Sight
by Laine Squirrel
Summary: Ed finds a way for him and Al to return to Amestris. Without telling his younger brother, he has the Gate take anything it wants from him. Is the price enough for even Ed to regret his decision? That is, if he can even remember it? Postmovie
1. Prologue

**Okay…Um, this story is posted up on Lea Cat's account…But that was when I didn't have an account, but now I do, so now I'm reposting and continuing from here. **

**NOTE: To the people who have already read this, I suggest you read this again since I did reread this and edit and make some changes. Arigato!**

**And this is the redone version, where I'm fixing the confusing parts and doing "Ed" and "Al" to "Edward" and "Alphonse". And if I missed anything, I apologize. I was really only skimming.

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
6/13/06  
7/5/06 (edited)

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**

"Nnh…" A boy with golden-blonde hair grabbed his head. He paused for a second before he looked back up like nothing had happened. He glanced over at his little brother to make sure he hadn't noticed. There didn't seem to be any signs of concern on Alphonse's face as he looked over at his older brother. Then they appeared.

"Brother, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong!" Edward Elric hastened to come up with an answer. "I…um…I was just looking at the ground!"

"Uh, what for?"

_He's so persistent!_ Edward couldn't help thinking. "Uh…" Edward looked around desperately for something to distract Alphonse. "Hey, look Al! A town! Let's go and lodge there for a night at an inn! I could do with a nice break for my aching feet! I'm sure you could too!"

Alphonse knew Edward was hiding something, but he decided that Edward would tell him when he was ready. "Okay."

_What's happening to me? What's this pain? Everything's going blurry…Aaggh…_An abrupt pain sliced through Edward's head, dispelling his thoughts. _What's happening…?_ Those were the last thoughts Edward had before he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Brother? What's wrong?" Alphonse turned around to find Edward lying on the ground. "Brother? Brother!"

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Edward bolted upright with a gasp. Sweat trickled down his neck. He looked around. He couldn't see anything. _This…isn't right! How can this be?_ Edward sat there in the dark, thinking about what he had just seen. _What…What was the—_

The door burst open, interrupting Edward's thoughts. "Brother! You're awake! Are you alright?" Alphonse ran in, holding a tray of food. "What happened? I turned around and you were lying on the ground!"

"Al? Is that you?" Edward looked around. He couldn't see anything but the dark.

"Huh? Of course it's me, Brother. Don't you recognize me? I'm right in front of you!" Alphonse was beginning to get worried.

"Y…You're right in front of me?" Edward slowly put his hand out and ran into Alphonse's head. "A-Al, are the lights on?"

"Of course they're on! What, do you think I'd go around in the dark?"

"No, you wouldn't. Sorry, I was just kidding you! But yeah, I'm fine, so don't worry about me! Now, do you have any food? I'm starving!"

Alphonse smiled, relieved. "Uh-huh, I have some food right here!" He held the food out. He frowned as Edward fumbled for the tray. "Brother, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine! Thanks for the food, Al."

"Oh, you're welcome. I'm just glad you're alright, Brother. Well, I'm going to go get dinner, okay? Do you want me to come back up here to eat with you?"

_No!_ "No!" Edward repeated his thoughts. "It's alright. You don't need to put yourself through the trouble. I'll just eat up here. Besides, there are some things I need to think about anyway."

"Okay then…" Alphonse said, but he was still unsure that his brother was alright. He slowly got up and left the room. Edward heard the door click shut.

"How…how could this happen?" Edward whispered, as soon as he heard Al's footsteps retreating. "What was the Gate doing there, and…why did it take my sight?"

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**Hope you guys enjoyed!**

**Laine Squirrel**


	2. Chapter 1

**Alrightie…Just putting up the first chapter! Again, there are some changes, so please reread so that you don't get confused! (To whoever has already read this)**

**I can't believe I forgot the disclaimer!**

**(coughs) I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. Ha, my brain would never of had thought of an idea like that. It's too stupid.

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
6/14/06  
7/5/06 (edited)

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**

When Alphonse came back into the room, Edward was sitting by the window. His food lay untouched on the bed.

"Brother? Why didn't you eat?"

Edward didn't even turn his head. "I wasn't hungry."

"But Brother, you really should eat something! You haven't eaten for over 5 hours!"

"I told you I'm not hungry!"

Alphonse picked up the tray of food and brought it over to Edward. "Please Brother, eat something! If you don't, you'll never grow! You'll always be short!" he added, hoping it would get his brother's attention and get him to eat.

Edward didn't even blink.

"P-Please, Brother!" Alphonse brought the food closer. "Eat something! Just a bite!"

Edward abruptly lashed out, knocking the food out of Alphonse's hand, causing it to fly all over the room. "I **told** you I'm **not** hungry! Uh…" Just realizing what he did, Edward paused. He looked to where he thought Alphonse was. He could already see Alphonse's worried face in his mind. Before Alphonse could say anything Edward muttered a sorry before running out of the room.

Or at least trying to. He tripped over objects that lay on the ground, tripped over his own feet, and missed the door completely, running into a wall instead. Putting one hand against the wall he kept running, and eventually felt a door knob. When the door wouldn't open when he pushed it, he pulled it, flinging it open, and ran out, ignoring Alphonse's calls behind him.

_Dammit! Why did this have to happen? Why did the Gate even come back? _He ran into a wall, not being able to see it, and instead of inching his way along the wall until he came to an opening he transmuted a hole into it so that he could go through it.

And ran out into empty air. _DAMMIT!_ Edward was ready to yell it too, but he didn't have a chance as the wind knocked the breath out of him. _1…2…3 stories above ground,_ he counted before he crashed into the cobble-stoned street. _Just…my…luck…_ he finished as he blacked out for the second time that day.

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Edward slowly opened his eyes. Everything was still black. He waved his hand in front of his face. He still couldn't see anything. He sighed. Then he heard some voices. He looked around, trying to locate the source of the voices, when he was abruptly grabbed by the front of his shirt.

"Yo, we found ya lyin' on th' street. Thought we'd do ya a favor by helpin' ya. 'Course, we expected payment in return, so we go an' inspect yer pockets, and what do we find but this weird paper stuff!"

_Oh yeah…I forgot that Germany used a different currency…_ Edward couldn't help but laugh a little. The guy holding his shirt punched him.

"Ya think this is funny? I'm gonna kill ya, ya loser!"

_Whoops…guess I shouldn't of had laughed…_ Edward regretted. In one swift movement he transmuted his right arm into a blade and swung out. He missed. _Dammit…How am I supposed to fight him if I don't even know where he is?_

"Get 'im, boys!" He heard the guy call out. He felt a bunch of other people closing in. He frantically swung out his arms, kicking here and there. He felt contact with bodies, but he still didn't know where the boss guy (that was what he had decided to call him) was. Then he heard a gun shot, and a pain shot through his left arm.

He transmuted his right arm back to the plain auto-mail and used that hand to try and block the blood that was flowing freely out of the gun wound on his left. He then began kicking the people surrounding him. _I need to get out of here…Dammit…Where's the exit to wherever this place is anyway? Aaghh!_ He ran into a wall. Just then a voice rang out.

"Stop it! Leave Brother alone!"

"A—Al?" Edward looked to his left, where the sound seemed to be coming from.

"Yeah, it's me, Brother." Alphonse started walking towards Edward.

"Yo, punk, better stop walkin' or ya might get killed," the boss guy declared.

Alphonse grinned. "No I won't. Not if they get you first." He pointed behind him. The MP ran in from behind Alphonse and attacked the gang before they could make a move. They submitted quickly. Alphonse ran over to Edward. "Brother, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…How did you find me, anyways?"

"It doesn't matter! You're hurt! Ever since we came back from Germany, you've been like this! Will you tell me what's wrong now?" he asked as he bandaged Edward's arm.

_I'm surprised he hasn't figured it out by now…_ But instead of saying that, he instead asked, "Can we go back to the inn first…?" He was stalling for time, and both he and Alphonse knew it. But Alphonse agreed anyways, and with the support of Alphonse, Edward got up and slowly the two made their way back to the inn after first talking with the military. On the walk, Edward thought over their journey of how they had returned back to the world they were now in.

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"Al, Al! I found a way back to our world!" Edward excitedly shook Alphonse awake.

"Huh?" There was a pause as Alphonse groggily took in the information before it finally hit him. "Really? We can return to our world? Can we go back now?"

"Sure, if you want!"

"I want!"

"Alright then, follow me!" Edward threw Alphonse's coat to him, already having his own on. He practically bolted through the door and into the forest that was behind the apartment they lived in, and when they finally stopped running they were in a secluded area with a big transmutation circle already drawn on the ground there. Edward instructed Alphonse to put his hands on the edge of the transmutation circle, as if he were going to transmute something. Then he did the same for himself after taking out a pocket knife and cutting his finger so that there was some blood on his hand. The transmutation circle glowed blue before Edward and Alphonse found themselves in front of the Gate.

"What do we do now, Brother?" Alphonse looked at Edward.

"You stay here. I'll tell you when we can go through the Gate." Edward gave his little brother a quick smile before walking forward to the doors of the Gate. And in a whisper, so that Alphonse wouldn't be able to hear him, he said, "Okay Gate. We want to go back to our world. So you're going to let us back. You can take whatever you want from me; just don't take anything from Al." Edward grinned with satisfaction when the Gate slowly began to creak open. He turned to Alphonse. "Come on Al!"

Alphonse was still unsure as he walked up to Edward. Edward noticed. "Don't worry, Al. It's gonna be fine. You'll see." And together they walked through the Gate.

They sped through different colors and places, until at last they stepped out into a barren place.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know, Al. But let's walk around until we come to a town or find someone who can tell us where are we, 'kay?"

"Okay…"

And thus the two brothers began to walk about. And that was when Edward felt a sharp pain through his head. He grabbed his head. He paused for a second before he looked back up like nothing had happened.

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He had forgotten about that. _I guess this is the price I have to pay for Al and me going through the Gate to get back to our world…_

"Brother? Brother!"

"Huh? What is it, Al?" Edward looked around. Everything was still black.

"Will you tell me what's wrong now?" Alphonse undid the bandage that was hurriedly wrapped around Ed's arm and began to properly rewrap it with a cleaner cloth.

"Well, Al…I've lost my sight, see. The Gate took it. And it isn't coming back."

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**There you go. Chapter 1. Hope y'all enjoyed!**

**Sayonara!**

**Laine Squirrel**


	3. Chapter 2

**Okay…Here's the next chapter! I did make some changes, so again, please reread to those of you who have already read this! Arigato! (smiles)**

**Oh, yeah. I'm going on a trip (I'm leaving today and coming back on the 19th ((of June, of course))) It's on my profile, too. So I don't know if I'll be able to update unless there's a computer there that I can use. (I'm saving my stories on a floppy disk and taking it with me) So if I don't update over the next four or five days, please understand that it was because I was away. But I'll take a pencil and notebook with me and write on the air plane and whenever I can so that when I come back I can just type it up, 'kay? Enjoy chapter 2!

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
6/15/06  
7/5/06 (edited)

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"What? What do you mean? Your sight isn't coming back? Why not? Why did the Gate take it? It didn't take anything from me! So why you?" Now that Edward mentioned it, his eyes did seem a little glazed.

"Umm…" Edward tried to remember the order of Alphonse's questions. "Let's see…I mean exactly what I said; the Gate took my sight, my sight isn't coming back because that was the price I paid for getting both you and me across the Gate, it didn't take anything from you because I asked it not to, and that's why it took it from me. Any more questions?"

"Yes! Why?"

Edward blinked, confused. "Why what?"

"Why did you go do this by yourself? You could have told me! I wouldn't have had minded giving up something as well!" Alphonse stood up from his chair, causing it to fall back. "Why do you always have to go and do stuff by yourself without ever telling me!"

Edward sighed. "Al, I don't think you get it. I didn't give up my sight because I didn't want to. The reason we went on the journey for the Philosopher's Stone was to get your body back—"

"And your left leg and right arm!" Alphonse interrupted.

"—and my left leg and right arm," Edward repeated. "If you lost something too, then we'd be right back where we started. Then what would the point of the whole journey for the Philosopher's Stone be?"

"But still…"

"Al, I don't mind having to of had lost my sight if it means that you were able to cross the Gate safely." Edward turned his head so that he would be looking at Alphonse if he could see. His unfocused eyes seemed to look straight into Alphonse. "It's alright." He gave one of his carefree grins. "So don't worry about it!"

"But…"

"Al, I said its fine. But if you wouldn't mind, could I possibly get some food? And maybe a pair of sunglasses?"

"But…" Alphonse stopped. "Yeah, sure. Come on, I'll take you down to go get some food."

"Thanks, Al."

"…It's the least I can do," Alphonse said finally. He took Edward's arm and led him down 2 flights of stairs. He pushed Edward into a seat when they got to a nearby restaurant. "Stay here. I'll go get you some food."

"Okay. Thanks."

Shortly after leaving Alphonse returned, holding a bowl and a cup for Edward. "Here, Brother. I got you some stew and a drink."

"What's the drink?"

"It's…orange juice. Yeah! Orange juice…" _I can't tell Brother its milk…He'd make a big scene! There was only milk left to drink! He needs to drink milk anyways…_ Alphonse thought.

"Really?"

"Really!" _Does he know I'm lying?_ Alphonse panicked.

"Uh-huh…Well then, thanks for the food…"

"You're welcome." _Phew…_

Alphonse went to go get food for himself while Edward began to eat his stew. When he came back he found Edward holding the cup of milk, but he hadn't taken a sip from it.

"Huh? Brother? Aren't you going to drink your orange juice? …Brother?" Alphonse froze as Edward's head slowly started to turn toward him.

"Al…"

"Y—Yes?"

"This isn't orange juice, **is it**?"

"W-What? O-o-of course it's orange juice!"

"Yeah…**RIGHT**! It's that white, liquid foamy crud that comes from cows, isn't it?"

"N-No it's not! What makes you think that?"

"You're trying to trick me into drinking milk since I can't see, **aren't you**? Well, I can still smell! It isn't orange juice!" And with that said Edward flung the cup of milk across the restaurant before going on a screaming, raging rampage.

_Seeing him, you would never suspect that he's blind…_ Alphonse sighed. _So much for not making a big scene…_

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"Really, Brother, did you have to do that?" Alphonse complained. The two had just gotten back from the restaurant after watching (and listening to) the manager in a screaming, raging rampage like Edward's. Except unlike Edward, the manager hadn't practically ripped apart the restaurant with his bare hands. That was the reason for the manager's screaming, raging rampage. Alphonse had offered to help clean up, but the manager, fearing that Alphonse would create another mess like his brother, quickly declined the offer and kicked the two out of the restaurant. "I mean, we just came back from the other world **today**, and you're **blind**, and look at the mess you've already made!"

"Sorry, Al, but I can't really 'look' at the mess I've made," Edward said, half-joking.

"I'm sorry! It's my fault you can't see!" Alphonse wailed, changing moods quickly.

Edward winced. "Al, I was joking! Well, half-joking, but we've already been over this! It isn't your fault!"

"Right…But if you're half-joking, then that means that the other half is serious! It's my entire fault!"

"No it's not!"

Sniffing, Alphonse decided to let it go. The two were silent for a while before he asked, "I have a question, Brother."

"Hmm? What is it, Al?"

"Well…You're blind, so how did you manage to ruin the whole restaurant?"

Edward blinked a couple times before answering, as if trying to recall. "I don't know, Al. I just kept running around. If I ran into something, then I tore it apart…I guess…"

"You guess? You **GUESS**? It was enough that you flung the cup of milk **all over** the restaurant, but then you had to go rip everything up! While on your running rampage you ran into a wall and **tore it apart**!"

"Oh, did I?"

"YOU DID!"

"Oops…"

"Brother, are you sure you're blind?"

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There was a loud yawn. Alphonse looked across the seat to stare at Edward.

"Brother, how can you be yawning? You slept for over 10 hours!"

Edward yawned again. "I dunno. It doesn't really matter, anyways."

"If you say so…" Changing the subject, Alphonse said, "Well, we found out that we are indeed in Amestris…So where are we going to go now?"

"I thought maybe we could go to Resembool before going to Central. Granny and Winry's auto-mail is much more remarkable than Germany's."

Alphonse immediately brightened. "You mean we're going to Winry's?"

"Well, that's the idea," was the reply.

"I'm sorry! …But I wonder what her reaction will be to see us again…"

"Well, there's only way to find out. But I think I'm gonna take a nap, so wake me when it's time to get off."

"Okay…" _Is Brother really okay? He slept for over 10 hours and he still wants more sleep?_ Alphonse knew Edward liked to sleep a lot, but it was never this much._ Should I just think that as Brother gets older he'll want to sleep more, or is this really a problem I should be worrying about?_

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In Resembool, Edward and Alphonse hopped off the train.

"I'm still so tired!" Edward yawned. Then grinned. "I wonder what the first thing Winry'll say when she sees us! Especially after she sees me wearing sunglasses!"

"Well, it's like you said Brother. 'There's only one way to find out.'"

"Yeah, we'll see. Well, I guess I'llnot really see…By the way, Al, could we try to keep this a secret from her?"

"What? You know she won't appreciate not being told when she finds out."

"Then don't tell her, and she won't find out."

"But Brother, you shouldn't keep secrets as big as this! Especially not from Winry!"

Edward stopped walking. "Al…We can't tell her. Understand."

"Alright, I won't tell her. But you have to promise that we'll tell her eventually!"

_What else can I do?_ Edward asked himself. "Alright, I promise that we'll tell her eventually."

"Good."

Looking up, Edward said, "Hey, I can see the hou…" He drifted off as he lost consciousness.

For the second time in 2 days Alphonse turned around to find his brother lying unconscious on the ground.

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**Hee hee…Chapter 2! There y'go. Hope you all enjoyed it! (I also apologize if it is short. I'm not really good at making long chapters, and I fear that if I try to make the chapters long I will quickly run out of things to say and the result will be my dragging the chapter on and making it boring.)**

**Over and out!**

**Laine Squirrel**


	4. Chapter 3

**Well...This is on WordPad, so I apologize if it looks different. Can you believe it? The computer here in Texas that I can use doesn't have Microsoft Word! But it has WordPad. And I can use that! (smiles) But I don't know if it'll look different, so you'll know the reason why! Hee hee... (happy that she could get a hold of something to update fanfic with) **

**Right. A reviewer mentioned something about if it should matter whether or not Ed slept a lot. My answer: Yes, it does matter, because if Ed sleeps more and more every day, then there might come a day that he doesn't wake up at all! An eternal sleep! So, still think that it doesn't matter how much Ed sleeps? (Don't think I'm mad, 'cuz I'm not)**

**Disclaimer: Err...I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, alright? ...I don't even own a FullMetal Alchemist item...I don't even own the computer I'm currently typing on or the computer back at my house that I use! (cries)**

**...Moving on...Here's chapter 3! (Again, I apologize if it looks different.)

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
6/17/06  
7/5/06 (edited)

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"Okay Al. You are going to tell me exactly **what** I am missing here." Winry looked menacingly from Edward's sleeping face to Alphonse's scared one.

"Umm…"_ What am I supposed to tell her? I promised Brother I wouldn't tell Winry about him being blind!_

"Well?" Winry pulled out her wrench. "**I'm waiting.**"

"Brother fell asleep and I didn't want to wake him so I carried him here!" _It **is** kind of true…_

"Oh…okay…" Winry seemed to think about this answer before asking, "Well, are you hungry, Al? I can't believe you guys are back!"

"Yes…It's hard for me to believe too…And yes, I am kind of hungry…"

"Okay then. You can go find yourself something to do and I'll go make something to eat."

"Alright. Thanks, Winry."

"Mm-hmm."

As Winry left the room, Alphonse sat down next to Edward and began to think back on what had happened. _Brother had looked up and had started to say, "Hey, I can see the house", but he had gone unconscious before he finished the sentence…Wait, he said "I can see"! Brother can see now? _Alphonse looked at Edward. _What's going on?_

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"Ow…" Slowly Edward sat up, rubbing his head. "Where am I?" He looked around. "This is Winry's house…How did I get here?" Stumbling a bit, Edward got up and made his way into the kitchen, where he found Alphonse and Winry sitting there. "Good morning…" he mumbled, and made his way to sit in one of the chairs.

Winry stared at Edward. "Its evening."

Alphonse also stared at Edward, but said nothing.

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"Mmm! This is really good, Winry!" Edward gobbled down the slice of pie on his plate. Alphonse took small little bites from his.

"Al, what do you think? That's the pie that Mrs. Hughes made for Ed on his birthday when you were still in that suit of armor. Remember when I told you that when you got your original body back I'd make it for you?"

"Oh…yeah, I remember that. Thanks."

"You're welcome! You know, I still can't believe you guys are back!"

"Heh. Yep! So Winry, how's your auto-mail been doing? Your auto-mail is so much more remarkable than Germany's." Edward grinned.

"Oh, the auto-mail's been great! How about I start on an arm and leg for you tonight? Granny's visiting an old friend who got sick. She should be back by the end of the week."

"Alright, thanks!"

"By the way, are you guys going to be leaving again after I finish Ed's auto-mail?"

"Yeah!" Alphonse cut in before Edward could say anything. "Brother said that we're going to go to Central."

Edward looked at Alphonse, puzzled. "I said that? When?"

"Soon after we came back from Germany. You don't remember?"

"No…But if you say I said that, then I must have!" Edward laughed.

"Brother, can I talk to you?"

Edward glanced at Alphonse. "Sure."

"In private?" Alphonse stood up.

"Okay. Winry, we'll be right back." Edward got up and followed his little brother outside. They kept walking, side by side, neither of them saying anything.

"Brother…" Alphonse said finally. "Can you see?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I can see!"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"What's with these weird questions, Al?"

"Just answer, please!"

"The last thing I remember…The last thing I remember is us coming back from Germany."

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That night, lying in bed, Alphonse thought back to the talk he had with his brother on that walk.

_"Brother…" Alphonse said finally. "Can you see?"_

_"What are you talking about? Of course I can see!"_

_"What's the last thing you remember?"_

_"What's with these weird questions, Al?"_

_"Just answer, please!"_

_"The last thing I remember…The last thing I remember is us coming back from Germany."_

_"What?"_

_"The last thing I remember is—"_

_"No, not that. You mean, you don't remember…"_

_"Remember what?"_

_"It's nothing. Never mind."_

_"If you say so…But if there's a problem, you know you can tell me."_

_"Yeah…I know…"_

_Maybe Brother won't lose his sight again…Maybe it's a good thing Brother doesn't remember ever being blind… _Alphonse thought.

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The next morning when Alphonse got up, he looked over across the room to where Edward's bed was. He wasn't there. _Brother's already up…?_ Groggily Alphonse got up and went into the kitchen. Winry and Edward were already sitting there eating breakfast.

"Hey, Al!" Edward said. "Come here and drink my milk for me!"

Winry turned to glare at him. "No, Al will NOT be drinking your milk for you!" She picked up the glass of milk and handed him the milk. "YOU drink it!"

Edward shoved it back. "No! I won't drink it!"

"YOU WILL!"

"NO!"

Winry and Edward began to push it back and forth between them as Alphonse got himself a plate of scrambled eggs (which was breakfast), sat down, and began to eat. There was a loud crash. He looked up to find Edward lying on the floor and Winry worriedly hovering over him.

"Ed! Ed!" she was calling. Alphonse rushed over and knelt beside Edward.

"Winry, what happened?"

"Well…Ed and I were arguing over the milk, and then when I thrust it back, instead of pushing it back he just dropped it and fell to the ground. Al, is there something you two aren't telling me?"

"It's not for me to say. But I promise you that Brother will tell you when we can."

Alphonse half-picked Edward up and half-dragged him to the couch. Winry just stood there, looking at the ground.

"So…" she started.

"Huh?" Alphonse looked up to see Winry charging at him, wrench in hand.

"YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO LEAVE ME OUT AGAIN!" She swung her wrench up and brought it down on Alphonse's head, hard. Even after giving him a good beating, she still left the room in a huff.

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"Ouch…What have I been doing to myself?" Edward sat up. _Hmm…I still can't see…_ Half-falling, Edward got up from the couch and started walking around. He ran into walls and stumbled over furniture but never got anywhere.

"Ed?"

He stopped walking. "W-Winry?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm…walking around!" He started walking again. "What does it look like I'm doing? Oof!" And tripped over a stool.

"Ed, are you sure you're alright? You suddenly just dropped the milk and fell to the floor during breakfast this morning!"

Pausing, Edward asked, "…I did?"

Walking forward, Winry said, "Ed, I know something's wrong with the two of you. Will you tell me what it is?"

"I can't," Edward sighed. "Not yet, anyways. But I promise I'll tell you eventually."

Winry pulled out her wrench. She paused when Edward didn't even blink. _Usually he would start running or crying by now…_ she thought. _He's not even looking in my direction!_ "YOU GUYS NEVER TELL ME ANYTHING!" she yelled as she charged. Edward just stood there.

_Okay…_ Edward thought. _I know she's charging at me with her wrench in hand: That's a given. But I don't really know from what direction she's coming from and from where she started her charge…Umm…It sounds like she's coming from that direction…_ He listened closely to Winry's voice as she was yelling at him for never telling him anything, listening to it get louder as she got closer. He was just about to move when he heard a voice.

"Winry, STOP!"

"Al?"

Alphonse ignored his older brother. "Winry, leave Brother alone. I need to talk to him." Without waiting for Winry's permission he grabbed Edward and practically dragged him out the door and continued walking. "Brother, what's the last thing you remember now?"

"What? Umm…" Edward thought for a couple moments. "The last thing I remember is finding out from a person that we were in Amestris. Why do you ask, Al? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong!"

"If you say so…But if there's a problem, you know you can tell me. Huh?"

"What is it, Brother?"

"Nothing, just…It felt like I said that before…"

"Then you remember?" Alphonse asked excitedly.

Edward looked confused. "Remember what?"

"Never mind. It's nothing."

"Okay. Well then, we should probably head back."

"Yeah…" Alphonse started walking back to the house.

"Uh, Al?"

"What is it, Brother?" Alphonse turned around.

Edward laughed kind of pathetically. He was taking tiny little steps with his hands in front of him. "A little help here…?"

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**Alright, peoples. Chapter 3. Hope you all enjoyed! Umm...I think I'll have chapter 4 up by either tomorrow or Monday. Depends on when I get enough time. Heh.**

**Bwaaahh!**

**Laine Squirrel**


	5. Chapter 4

**Well, aren't you peoples lucky? Another update! Ha ha...Right. Do not expect an update tomorrow or Tuesday or soon after Monday, though. I get back to Illinois and back to my house at around 10:30 P.M. tomorrow night, and I can't type anything during the day, so you probably won't get an update until at least Wednesday or Thursday since I have most of it already written out. Well, I hope you enjoy chap 4! (smiles)**

**Disclaimer: I own FMA! FreakishlyMoronic Ahou! (You weren't thinking FullMetal Alchemist, were you? There's no way I could ever own that! You don't have to rub it in...) (sniffles)

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
6/18/06  
7/5/06 (edited)

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**

Winry greeted Edward and Alphonse as they walked in the door. "Hey, guys! Oh yeah, Ed, your auto-mail should be finished by the day after tomorrow."

"Huh? You were making me auto-mail?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? Last night I said I would make you a new right arm and left leg of auto-mail!"

"Oh…Right…Eh heh heh…heh…heh……" Edward put one hand behind his head. He paused as he seemed to be thinking about something. "Oh, by the way, where's Granny Pinako? I haven't heard anything from her…" he added.

Winry frowned. "I told you yesterday that she was visiting an old friend who got sick and that she should be back by the end of the week. Don't you remember?"

"Uh."

"Edward and Alphonse Elric, there is something you two are hiding from me. I know you said that you would tell me when it's time. I thought I would be okay with that. But it's obvious that the problem is big." Winry started crying. "I don't want to be left out on something that's really causing a problem!"

"Winry…"

Edward could feel Alphonse looking at him. He sighed and nodded slightly. "Winry," he started. "I'll tell you. Since you want to know so much, we'll let you in on the know. I'm blind. I can't see anything."

_Well…I guess that would explain a few things…_But even so, Winry still had a hard time believing it. "How did you lose it?" she finally managed to ask.

"I lost it through the Gate. It was the price I had to pay for Al and me to get back here."

The whole entire time, Alphonse just stood there, lost in thought. _Should I tell Brother? Should I not tell Brother? I don't even know this for sure. But maybe I should tell Brother. Okay._ Coming to a decision, Alphonse started talking, startling both Edward and Winry. "Brother…"

"What is it, Al?"

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Edward started to bring his hand up so that he could rest a reassuring hand on Alphonse's shoulder, but paused when he realized that he didn't know where Alphonse's shoulder was, and brought it back down to hang at his side.

"I'm sorry…for not telling you…something important…"

Edward was curious now. "What?"

"That…That you've lost some of your memory!" Alphonse choked out.

"What? You mean there are some things that I don't remember?"

"Yeah," Alphonse sniffed. "You don't remember getting your sight back, and when you could see you didn't remember ever having been blind."

"Now that you mention it," Winry added. "Ed also forgot about the new auto-mail I was making him and that I already told him that Granny was visiting an old friend who got sick."

"Okay…Well then, I'm going on a walk…"

"Brother, we were just on a walk!"

"Yeah, so what?"

"You can't even see where you're going!"

"Well, I still remember this place and where everything is."

"Then you're going to walk around from memory?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

"But what if you accidentally turn around? You won't know what direction you're going!"

"Then come with me Al. There are some things I want to talk to you about anyways."

"O-Okay."

"We'll be back later, Winry!" Edward called over his shoulder as he and Alphonse walked out the door.

Well, Edward was led out.

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"Aahh!" Edward stretched. "The cool, crisp air is so refreshing! Don't you think, Al?"

"Yeah, sure," Alphonse answered glumly.

"What's wrong?"

"It's my fault you can't see anything and I'm sure it's also my fault that you're losing your memory! And," Alphonse continued before Edward could get a word in, "I know that we've already been over this but no matter how I think about it it'll always be my fault!"

"Al, it could very well be that you're the one at fault for my losing my memory. Or at least some of it," Edward said bluntly. "But I don't think so." He smiled reassuringly, which suddenly broke as he yawned. "I'm so sleeepyy…"

"Ah, Brother! Watch out, there's a—"

Edward tripped over a rock, fell off the path, and ran into a tree.

"—rock," Alphonse finished, the warning coming to late. He hurried down to where his brother was and slung his arm over his shoulders so that he could help him back up to the path.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. But you said you wanted to talk to me about?" Alphonse asked, changing the subject.

Edward was silent for a moment before exclaiming, "Oh yeah! I did, huh? Umm…What was it again…Right! What did I miss during the times I can't remember?"

Alphonse informed Edward about everything he missed during the time he couldn't remember as the two of them walked, Edward's arm still slung over Alphonse's shoulders.

When Alphonse finished, Edward said, "Well…then I didn't forget anything important?"

"No…But Brother, when you could see you didn't remember having been blind, but now, when you can't see, you remembered being blind, but you don't remember having been able to see again. It doesn't make sense!"

"No, it doesn't make sense. But we'll get some answers. As soon as Winry finishes the new auto-mail for me, let's go to Sensei's place." Edward shivered. "She might kill us for getting ourselves into another big problem, but we need to see if she knows anything."

Alphonse shivered as well. Shaking, he asked, "I thought we were going to Central first?"

"You're right. I guess I did say that. All right, let's go to Central first. Then we can go to Sensei's. There's no need to rush." Neither of them was in a hurry to get to Izumi's. "But right now I guess we should go back. Anyways, is it dark or light out?"

"It's evening," Alphonse told him as he turned around with Edward.

"Then that means dinner's almost ready! Come on, hurry Al!" Edward broke away from Alphonse and started running, the thought of food in his mind.

"Brother, wait! There's a—"

Edward tripped over the same rock as before, fell off the path, and instead of running into a tree fell into a ditch.

"—rock…"

As Edward got up, rubbing his head, he whined, "You could've told me that earlier…"

"I tried Brother, but you're at fault too! Always being too reckless!"

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Winry stood staring at Edward as he followed Alphonse through the doorway. She snapped back to reality when she saw him about to sit in one of the chairs at the table after stumbling around a bit.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" she yelled.

Edward flinched and then paused. "I'm sitting down…?" The answer ended up sounding more like a question.

"IN THOSE DIRTY CLOTHES! WHAT DID YOU DO!"

"Uh…Well, I kinda fell into a ditch…"

"HOW!" Before Edward could say anything, Winry changed her mind and said, "You can tell me later, but first, GO WASH UP AND GET CLEAN CLOTHES ON!"

"Y-Yes ma'am!" Edward turned one random direction and ran, but ran into a wall instead. He started feeling his way along the wall but went the wrong way.

Alphonse winced. "Brother, it's this way." He put his hands on his older brother's shoulders and steered him out of the room.

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**Ha ha, poor Ed! Can't even find his way out of the room! (coughs) Well anyways...There you have it! Chapter 4. Hope you all enjoyed it!**

**Doo doo do do do do doo doo do do do do doo doo doo doo doo do do dooooo...**

**Laine Squirrel**


	6. Chapter 5

**Wow, sorry for the lack of updates! I've just been so lazy lately…And not to mention Word decided to act up now with me…And now the FanFiction sight…Life hates me right now. (sighs) But I prevailed! (Eventually, anyways) But I'm so sleepy…But I don't wanna go to bed. Enjoy the story! (smiles) **

**Hehe, I love you all! I got 5 reviews, and majority of them were long! (I like long reviews, even if they have nothing to do with the story) Ha ha! (big eyes) But that doesn't mean you have to write a long review, of course. **

**Disclaimer: I own whatever I own, and do not own whatever I do not own. One of the things I do not own is FullMetal Alchemist.

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
6/24/06  
7/5/06 (edited)

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**

Alphonse rolled over in his bed, and in doing so ended up looking in the direction of where Edward's bed was when he opened his eyes. And found that his brother wasn't in there. No longer feeling sleepy, he threw off the blue blanket he had wrapped around himself, jumped out of the bed, and rushed out of the room. He saw a piece of paper on the kitchen table. On it was written:

_To Al and Winry:_

_Do not think I have gone and killed myself, because I haven't. I just wanted to go for a walk and get some time to think. Alone. That is all. Uh, I don't really know what time it is, but if I'm not back by noon, **then** you can go look for me. (Well, it has to be before noon if you guys aren't up yet)_

_Ed_

The writing was messy, the words weren't straight, and some of them even overlapped each other. Obviously Edward had tried to write a note even though he couldn't see a single letter he was writing. Alphonse sighed. He looked over at the clock. It was 9:03 a.m. _I wonder what time Brother left the house…_

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When Edward had left the house after writing his "note", the air had been cool and crisp. Now it was starting to get warmer as the sun started to rise. Edward had left Winry's house and had walked around from memory, stopping until he thought he was at the river. He dropped to his hands and knees and crawled forward until he felt water. Satisfied with himself he lay back on the grass, his hands behind his head. Slowly his eyes started to close as he drifted off to sleep.

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Edward was in front of the Gate. He could see now. _What am I doing in front of the Gate?_ he wondered. Suddenly the doors opened and he was pulled in. The doors closed behind him. Inside the Gate he got all the answers he wanted. It just kind of entered his mind.

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Edward's eyes snapped open. He looked around. _How did I get by the river?_ He got up and started walking back to the Rockbells'. On the way he ran into Alphonse.

"Brother!" he cried.

"What is it, Al?"

"It's past noon!"

"Yeah, what of it? Oh, by the way, do you know how I got to the river? I can't seem to remember…"

Alphonse sighed. Obviously Edward had gotten his sight back._ Wait…I haven't told Brother with his sight back about his lost memory…_ "C'mon Brother. I'll explain as we go back to Winry's." He didn't even bother to ask Edward what the last thing he remembered was. As the two walked back Alphonse informed Edward of everything he had told Edward when he was blind.

That night as Alphonse went to sleep, he couldn't help but think, _Argh…This is too much work…_

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The next morning Alphonse woke up to a thud, followed by another, as if a body were falling to the floor. He jumped up and rushed out to the kitchen and saw an unconscious Edward and a fallen chair next to him.

Winry rushed into the room. "What happened!" She paused when she saw Edward. "Ed? What did you do now!" Thinking that he had just been the idiot he was and had tripped and was not unconscious, she threw her wrench at him. It hit him square in the head, and blood started to seep out. "Blood!" Winry screamed.

"Winry, didn't you see that Brother was unconscious?" Alphonse complained.

Winry glared at him. "Well, obviously not if I went and threw a wrench at his head!" She went over to him and picked him up. "Are you going to help me?"

"R-Right." Alphonse hurried over and helped Winry to bring Edward over to the couch.

When that was done, Winry collapsed on a chair, sighing. "How many more times is Ed going to keep blacking out? It's so troublesome…What's even going on?"

"I wish I knew, Winry."

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When Edward woke up, he saw Winry, seated on the floor and leaning on the couch that he was on, asleep. Gently he shook her.

"Winry…Winry!"

"Hmm…?" Slowly Winry looked up and saw Edward looking at her. "Ed! You're awake!"

"Mm-hmm!" He grinned. Just then Al walked. "Oh, hey Al!"

Al looked surprised. "Brother, you can see me?"

Edward was confused. "What do you mean? Of course I can see you!"

"But why? Before your last black out you had your sight! You're supposed to be blind now! Why can you still see?"

"That's right…" Winry cut in. "Ed shouldn't have his sight still…So why…?"

Edward got up and stretched. "I dunno. But you guys shouldn't worry. If I can still see, I can still see! Sheesh, you guys sound like you _want_ me to be blind!"

"Oh no! Of course we don't want you blind, Ed!" Winry quickly protested. "It's just…"

Edward held out his hand to help her up. "Yeah, yeah, I know! It's just weird how I still have my sight when I _should_ be blind, right?"

Winry smiled and took his hand. "Right." Once she was standing, she said, "Oh, yeah! Your auto-mail's finished, Ed. Al, will you help me put it on Ed?"

"Sure."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. The pain from your auto-mail is so much more remarkable than Germany's, too," Edward grumbled.

"Come on, Ed! It can't be that bad!"

"Ha. Ha ha ha, ha, ha. I have an idea. How about we chop some of _your_ limbs off and attach some of your auto-mail to the stumps, then unconnect it, take you to Germany, get you some auto-mail there, and then you can tell me which one's more painful. How about it, Winry?"

"Uh…no thanks. I'll have to pass on that one."

"Thought so."

After finally getting the old auto-mail off and the new on, Winry and Alphonse lay Edward down on a couch so that he could rest.

"Geez…Is it just me or is Ed laying down a lot?" Winry asked, putting a hand on her forehead and closing her eyes.

"Brother's been laying down a lot," Alphonse admitted, although he hated to say it. "But there isn't really anything that we can do about it until we get some answers."

The two sighed at the same time.

"Well anyway, Winry, I think that Brother and I should leave as soon as he wakes up. I'm not particularly happy with Brother's sight coming and going, along with his memory. I want answers, and I'm sure that he wants some too, even if he doesn't say it."

"So then you guys will be leaving soon?"

"Well, I don't know. Depends on how long Brother stays sleeping."

"Oh…okay."

"Sorry, Winry."

"It's alright. I mean, you guys'll come back soon, right?"

"R-Right…But I can't promise."

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Edward woke up to find Alphonse packing.

"Al? What are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his eyes with his left hand after sitting up.

"I'm packing. This time we're going to have extra clothes to wear instead of having to wear the same clothes all the time," Alphonse told him, not even glancing over his shoulder to look at his older brother.

Edward blinked, surprised. "Why?"

"You may be content with the way things ended Brother, but I'm not. I want some answers. This 'price' you're paying doesn't make any sense."

"So then what do you plan to do?"

"Well…" Alphonse didn't have an answer. He seemed to contemplate on what to say before coming to a decision. "I was thinking maybe we could still go to Central and then to Sensei's. We might find some clues along the way. In the meantime we might as well go and visit everyone."

"Central…?" There were a few more minutes of silence before, "Oh yeah! Central! When are we leaving?"

"We're leaving today, in 10 minutes."

"Today in 10 minutes, huh? …WHAT!" Edward seemed to be taking information in slowly. Hurriedly he jumped off the couch and ran to the bathroom.

Watching him, Alphonse sighed. _Brother really needs to get his act together…_

Just as Alphonse finished packing, Edward came back out of the bathroom wearing light blue shorts. His hair was down and he had a towel draped over his shoulders to catch the water that was dripping from his damp hair.

He went into the luggage, ignoring his younger brother's protests of just finishing packing that. He pulled out his usual clothing attire and wiggled into them; a black sleeveless shirt, jacket, and pants. Trotting over to the front door he grabbed his boots, red jacket, and gloves and put them on. Looking up across the room to his little brother he gazed at him expectantly.

Pretending not to see the face that clearly sad, "Well? Are we going or not?", Alphonse said, "So you're not going to wear German clothes anymore, Brother?"

Edward's expression quickly turned into an "Are you crazy!" one. "Of course not. Unless you plan on going back to Germany to get some. Besides, what about you? Those clothes don't look like they're from Germany," he remarked, referring to the plain blue T-shirt, jeans, and white tennis shoes Alphonse was wearing.

"Right…Well, we should get going soon."

Edward put a hair tie in his mouth and bent his head down a little so that he could braid his hair, resulting in his reply being somewhat distorted. "Gen less go."

"Okay."

Just then Winry walked in holding something behind her back. "Would it be alright if I walked with you guys to the train station?"

"W-Winry…Sure."

As the trio headed for the train station they talked about everything that they had missed. It was almost like Edward and Alphonse had just been on a very long trip and had just come back. By the time they got to the station, many words had been passed between them. Winry stood outside the train near a window where Edward sat on the inside. Alphonse was putting the luggage into the top compartment, since Edward was too lazy to do it and that he was a bit too…short. Even though Alphonse was back in his original body, he was still a little taller than his older brother.

"Here, Ed, Al." Winry pulled the item she had managed to keep secret from Edward and Alphonse from behind her back. It was some food in a plastic bag. "Some food. We all know you'll need it. Especially Ed." She glared at Edward upon saying his name and held the bag out of his reach before he could snatch it. She waited until Alphonse had situated the luggage and handed him the bag. To outsiders and observers, the one Winry obviously trusted with the food more was the younger Elric.

"Thanks Winry," Alphonse said while taking the bag.

"No prob."

Edward wanted the food. "Winry…" he whined. "Why didn't you give me the food?"

Because there's enough food in there that should last a good while, and if I gave it to you now then it would be gone within this day."

"No it wouldn't…" Winry gave Edward an "Uh-huh" look. "Okay…So maybe it would…But I'm huungryy…"

"Not my fault."

Edward gasped. "Winry, how could you say that? You cruel, cruel, cruel, cruel, cruel, cruel, cruel…"

As Edward continued on his "cruel" rant, Winry turned to Alphonse. "I hope you guys stay safe. Don't **be afraid** to come back, especially if Ed gets his auto-mail busted again." Winry smiled pleasantly, emphasizing only the "be afraid" part. Edward shut up.

"R-Right…" Alphonse agreed meekly. "O-of course…"

The meaning of Winry's sentence: You guys better stay safe. Come back and visit some time, but only if you only come back when Ed's auto-mail is destroyed, I will **not** be happy.

Before anything more could be said (or done), the train blew its whistle, signifying that it was ready for take-off.

Winry stepped back. "Well, I hope you guys find what you're looking for." She stood there, waving among the rest of the people who were seeing a loved and/or dear one off—which weren't much, seeing as how this was in Resembool—until the train was out of sight.

—On the train—

"It was nice of Winry to give us food," Alphonse said, looking in the bag Winry had given them.

"Yeah," Edward agreed. "But," he added, glancing up to meet his brother's eyes. "It's not like Winry to give us food when we're leaving Resembool, don't ya think?"

"…I guess…"

—Back at the station—

Sighing, Winry transformed back into a person with long, green-black hair about low back, and was wearing a black skort with a black top and a black cloth that only wrapped around the middle of the bottom of the foot and up to just beneath the ankles, leaving the heels and toes still showing. "Hmm… It's such a waste giving a whole bag of food to them…That had better be convincing enough to the FullMetal Pipsqueak and his brother, though…" Smirking, Envy left the station.

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**There y'go, chap 5! Ha ha, I have extremely mixed emotions right now, so I left a cliffy! (There was more written, but I'm cutting it off here! Aren't I so nice?) Hehe, hope you all enjoyed! Oh, yeah. And I do know that it is possible for Ed to write a note without being able to see it. (I tried it out. And indeed, the lines were not straight.) **

**And about Run, to whoever reads that, I don't know when the next update is…I just felt like updating for Sight right now. But I promise thou that there will be an update for Run before the end of the month! …At least, that's what I'm hoping…Ehehe. I'm working on it!**

**Kyyaaaaaa! (No, I'm not one of the crazy obsessed fanatic girls squealing, if that's what you're thinking)**

**Laine Squirrel**


	7. Chapter 6

**Dun dun dun dunnnn! I am finally updating Sight! Ha ha! (smiles) Okay…Where to start…**

**Thank me very much for all the lovely and/or long reviews I got…You! I mean you! Thank _you_ very much for all the lovely and/or long reviews I got! I loved them! They're very much fun to read!**

**Umm…I am planning on putting Run on hold…I was planning on just discontinuing it, but there ARE some people that are reading it that have reviewed, which have made me aware that they are reading it, which I very much appreciate, so I won't stop. I'm just going to put it on hold for awhile and focus more on Sight a little bit. I'm probably just going to put up a couple of chapters on Sight, then go back to Run when I feel like it. If any of you who also read Run have any ideas for me or something, please, _please_ tell me, because I. Am. Going. _Brain-dead_ on that story. I really need help. My idea supply's running low!**

**Anyways, thank m—you berry much! Now, on to the story! Enjoy chapter 6!**

**Disclaimer: I Do NoT oWN fUllMetAl aLCheMisT! (Hee hee, it looks kinda funny!)

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
7/5/06

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After awhile, the rope finally broke. "It's about time!" Winry stood up, stretching. She tucked something back into her back pocket. "It's a good thing I carry a pocket knife around with me. But the rope still took a long time to cut through," she winced, rubbing her red wrists. _I hope Ed and Al are and stay safe…_

—XxXDxxXPxX—

"Hmm…There's just something weird about Central now. Maybe it's because we haven't been here in awhile," Edward said, getting off the train.

"Yeah, it all does seem a bit foreign," Alphonse agreed.

"Uh, do you remember where the Military Headquarters are? It all seems to have faded," Edward said sheepishly.

"I think. It has been awhile. But I think it was…this way? Alphonse pointed in the direction that led to the center of the city. "If I remember correctly, the headquarters were in the heart of the city."

It turned out that neither remembered the way to Headquarters. After wandering around for awhile, they finally asked someone where the Military Headquarters were and got some directions.

"Maybe we should have just asked someone half an hour ago," Edward grumbled.

"Well, at least we got there."

At the gate of the headquarters, Edward asked slyly, "So, should we sneak in or go in like normal people?"

Alphonse hastened to say, "L-Let's go in like normal people. No sneaking!"

But it was too late. Edward was already walking away. From the way he was just slightly bent over, it looked like he was snickering while muttering things, resulting in more snickerings.

To Alphonse's utter horror, Edward was walking away from the Military Headquarters and towards the place where shopping was done.

The kind of shopping where you look for and buy clothes.

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"Fuhrer," Hawkeye interrupted Roy Mustang as he was walking down the hall to his office.

"What is it, Brigadier General Hawkeye?" he asked, pausing mid-stride to look over at her.

"There's someone waiting in your office. She looked like she was excited about something, but she won't say anything. The replies we got back from questions we asked were written on a piece of paper."

"'She'?"

"Yes, Fuhrer. Someone you know?"

"No…I haven't been with a woman for awhile…Too much paperwork in the way. Well, it's probably not anything I have to worry about. I'll just be on my way then."

"Be careful. She's not one of the…preppy kinds, I guess you could say."

Roy turned around, smirking, holding a gloved hand up, the fingers ready to snap. "Who do you think I am?"

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Without hesitation, Roy opened his door and walked in, deliberately turning his back on the visitor to close the door, as if saying that they wouldn't be able to hurt him, if they had tried. He turned around to see someone sitting on one of the couches that decorated his office.

They were wearing baggy cargo pants and a T-shirt. They were guys' clothes. Yet the woman wearing them didn't look like a guy. She had a plain black baseball cap on which she wore backwards. Her golden eyes glinted as she smirked, flipping her also golden hair back behind her.

But she didn't say anything.

After examining her, Roy finally said, "Hello. Who are you?"

She didn't say anything.

"I'm Fuhrer Roy Mustang, but I'm sure you already know that. Would you please tell me who you are? I don't think I've met you before…"

She didn't say anything.

Roy was beginning to lose his patience. "If you don't tell me who you are, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

She still didn't say anything. But the smirk adorning her face grew wider. Suddenly it fell, and her eyes grew wide. There was a slight gasp before she went limp against the couch.

Out of nowhere, someone jumped out and sprinted over to the unconscious woman before Roy could do anything, yelling, "Brother!"

Roy froze. There was only one person he had known that called his brother, "Brother."

"Alphonse…and Edward…Elric?"

"What?" Alphonse turned around instinctively when he heard his name called. Then froze. _Whoops…I wasn't supposed to come out unless it was an emergency…Wait, what am I saying? This **is** an emergency!_

"…What are you and Edward doing here?"

Alphonse decided to pretend like it was casual small talk. "To get some answers."

"To what?"

"Questions."

Alphonse was deliberately maneuvering around the question, and both he and Roy knew it.

"Let's try this again. Alphonse, what are you two doing here?" Roy tried.

Again, Alphonse evaded the question. "We're getting answers to some questions we have."

"And what would those questions be?" Roy asked, thinking that there was no way that Alphonse could avoid the question.

Wrong.

"Those questions should be something Brother should ask, not me."

"…" Roy had to accept the fact that he wouldn't be getting anything from Alphonse. "Fine," he grumbled. He brought his attention to Edward, who Alphonse was currently laying down from the slumped sitting position he had been left in. "Anyways, why was FullMetal pretending to be a woman?" Even though Edward wasn't really a State Alchemist, Roy couldn't help it; calling Edward "FullMetal" had become natural, comfortable, and a habit.

Alphonse sighed, becoming once again the older brother. "He thought it would be fun."

Roy tried not to laugh. It just sounded so much like something Edward would think up.

There was a silence.

"Would…"

At the same time, there was an, "Umm…"

They both stopped.

Again, at the same time:

"What is it, Alphonse?"

"You were saying?"

Sigh.

"I'll start," Roy decided quickly.

Alphonse wasted no time in agreeing, hurriedly nodding his head while saying, "Okay", his hair following his movements.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, yes, that would be very nice, thank you."

"Any preferences?"

"Uhm…No, not really. Anything would be fine."

"Hazelnut coffee alright with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Alright, hold on." Roy got up and left, soon returning with two mugs in each of his hand.

Sitting down on the couch across from the one Alphonse was seated on, which also was occupied by a sleeping Edward, Roy handed a cup to Alphonse, receiving a quiet "thank you."

"You're welcome," Roy returned. "Now," he began, taking a sip from his cup, "what were you saying earlier?"

Alphonse seemed nervous. "W-Well, it's not really about something that's important…"

"Oh, that's fine," Roy said carelessly, trying to loosen Alphonse up.

"I was just wondering what ranks everyone was…"

Roy blinked, almost as if he had been expecting something more complicated. "Oh."

"Yeah…That's what I wanted to know…"

"It's no problem. Hawkeye's brigadier general, everyone else is generals, and I'm Fuhrer," he stated proudly.

"Oh, that's pretty cool. Everyone's been promoted."

"Yep."

The two had some small talk, sipping from their cups occasionally from time to time, Alphonse happy because of having company and someone to talk to, and Roy happy just because he now had an excuse not to do his paperwork. They were unaware of the time flying by until Edward shifted, and then sat up abruptly.

"Mmm…Hmm?" Edward blinked. Once, twice, thrice. Then, "Al?"

"Yes, Brother?"

"Is there anyone else here right now?"

"Yes…Fuhrer Mustang."

"Oh. How long have I been asleep?"

"Well…I don't know. I lost track of time," Alphonse told him sheepishly.

"Oh. Well, that's fine. I was just wondering anyways."

_Something doesn't seem right_, Roy observed, sitting quietly and watching, casually sipping his coffee, as if he wasn't in the room. But he was, and he made no sign of leaving anytime soon.

"Do you want to talk alone?" Alphonse asked, sneaking a quick glance at Roy, who was taking another sip of coffee.

"No, that's okay. It left again. But I still remember everything. I need to tell you something that can't wait until we're alone. Something might happen before we get the chance," Edward urged.

Roy was perplexed. _What is Edward talking about? What left again? What's different about still remembering everything? And what might happen?_

Alphonse, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what Edward was talking about.

"What?" he asked excitedly. "You still remember everything even though your sight left again? Really?"

'Yeah."

"Waaaaait a second," Roy interrupted, dragging out the "wait". The two brothers paused. "FullMetal's blind?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly. Of course, it wasn't like Edward could see it.

"Yeah, but Al will explain later. There's something I gotta tell him before something happens," Edward told him impatiently, basically saying, "Al will tell you everything you want to know later. Right now, there's something I've got to tell him before something happens that might never give me the chance again, so be quiet, and let me talk!"

There was a moment of silence as the words and their meaning sank in.

Alphonse broke it. "So, Brother, what is it that you have to tell me?"

Edward seemed to be deciding where Alphonse's voice was coming from before finally turning to him, having made up his mind, and got it right. "I know why my sight and memory are going on and off."

"What? How?"

"Wait, FullMetal's memory is disappearing too?" Roy interrupted again.

Edward and Alphonse ignored him.

Edward continued, "'How' is not important. I'll tell you later if I get the chance. See, the Gate is trying to take my sight, yes, but that was only part of the price. The other part was my memory. The price for both of us passing through the Gate is my sight _and_ memory."

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**Zer you have it me lovely readers! Hope you enjoyed! If it sounds weird anywhere along the story, please, do tell me…And tell me where it sounds weird, too. (That'll help) **

**Oh yeah. Almost forgots to tell you this: I'm going to go back, starting from the prologue, and just fix a little things here and there. Like, instead of doing "Ed" and "Al" it'll be "Edward" and "Alphonse". And as I was rereading, I realized that there were some places where it was…kind of confusing. So I'm just going to redo that. I'm not making any changes that'll affect the whole story, of course, so you don't have to reread it. Of course, you_ can_ always do it for…wasting time! (smiles)**

**Hmm…If you have any ideas for Sight as well, please, do tell. I'd love to hear them! And if it'll fit with my plot, if it's okay with you, of course, I'd like to use them!**

**And…Since I'm new at this, and Lea said no, that it would be wrong, but I was just wondering…Would it be okay with all of you people if I ever had Edward call Roy "Fuhrer Bastard"? (Since Roy's a Fuhrer now?) **

**Well, that was what I wanted to know! If you give me answers to my questions, I'll give you answers to your questions (on my story, of course)! (You'll have to tell me them, though…I'm not psychic!)**

**OooooooOoOoOooOoOooOooOooooooOOoOOoOoOOooOOOoooOOOooooOOOO (Hee hee, this also looks kinda funny!)**

**Laine Squirrel**


	8. Chapter 7

**Wah ha ha ha haa! See that I have not deserted you, my fellow friends and readers and whatever you guys are! An extra long chapter for you, too! (Err, well, I guess it isn't really that long, but…it's long enough, right? RIGHT?) **

**Ho-hum…I was looking at the updates and I realized that my rants were getting longer and longer and longer and longer and longer and—(clamps hand over own mouth)—Mm mmm. Sorry, sorry.**

**Well, moving on, thank you merry much for all the lovely reviews I received; I got all bubbly inside every single time I read a new review. (Even rereading my reviews!) I love them very much. And no, I am not a sappy person. (averts eyes and slowly begins to melt under the intense pressure of stares) Alright already, I'm a sappy person, okay! Jeez…**

**Disclaimer: I disclaim…What am I disclaiming again?**

**Anyways, on to the story! Hope you all like it!

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**

**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
7/22/06

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**

"Whaaaaaat? Agh, I **knew** it was also my fault your memory was going on and off!" Alphonse cried. Although he didn't do it, both Roy and Edward knew that he was internally pulling his hair out in pure frustration. You could hear it in his voice.

Edward put his hands out in front of him in what he thought to be Alphonse's direction to try to calm him down. "Al, it's not your fault. We've been over this more than too many times." Moving forward, his hands finally made contact with Alphonse's shoulders, and after a little fumbling so that his hands had a firm grip on the shoulders, he pushed Alphonse back down onto the dark blue couch.

Breathing in and out, Alphonse took some deep breaths to calm down. "Okay…So now that I know this, will you tell me how?" He was obviously looking for a distraction.

Edward gladly gave one. "You know how I went to the river back in Resembool and fell asleep there?"

Alphonse nodded, but then, remember that Edward couldn't see quickly confirmed, "Yes."

"Well, when I was sleeping, I somehow…visited the Gate, I guess you could say. And then I got the answers I wanted. I'm still not so sure how that works, but we got the answers to our questions, and that's what counts."

"So…why is your memory and sight going coming and going. Why can't the Gate just take it?"

Edward sighed, seemingly struggling with the right words to say. "It's…complicated. Memories are what people think of when they want to remember the good times, or bad times, or are regretting something they did. It's…Well, I guess you could say it's what their life is. It's what they…remember…or something! I'm not sure how to explain it. It's easier to just understand…" Edward sighed again, this time more frustrated. "So I guess, basically what I'm trying to say is, is that memories are not an easy thing to handle. Even if it's just a one-year-old kid, there are still a lot of things that happened that would be your memories. There are still a lot of…images, I guess. The Gate can't handle it all at once. It can't take both my memories and my sight at the same time…The balance is tilting. That's why my sight and memory are coming and going. But eventually, the Gate will finally have it all balanced evenly, and will be able to take my sight and memory in one."

The two had gotten so engrossed in their conversation that when Roy spoke, even in a calm voice, they both jumped in surprise, startled.

"Okay…it's great and all that you've got the answers you wanted, but now that your puzzle is solved, how about we move onto mine?" Without waiting for a response, Roy plunged forward, continuing with, "Why is FullMetal's sight going on and off in the first place?"

By now, Edward had figured out that Alphonse was to the right of him and Roy was seated on another couch that was across from the one they were seated on. Turning his face away from Roy so that he could project more of his voice to Alphonse, he asked, "Didn't I already say why my sight and memory was coming and going?"

"Yeah."

Suddenly remembering what Edward had said not even 3 minutes ago, Roy flushed with embarrassment, but he refused to let Edward know, half-glad already that he was currently blind. Hurrying to defend himself, Roy rushed, "I was too confused by what I first heard to hear anything else!"

He still lost.

"Confused, eh?" Edward smirked. Despite everything that had happened, he still didn't really like Roy.

"Hey, I'm the Fuhrer now, so be nice!" Roy shot back.

"Oh, my bad. Congratulations, you've been promoted from 'Colonel Bastard' to '_Fuhrer_ Bastard'!" Edward smirked. "But I'll tell you what: I'll _try_ not to call you 'Fuhrer Bastard' too much, okay?" His tone of voice reminded Roy ofwhich one would use with a little toddler.

"…" Roy was at a loss for words. Unlike all the other episodes where Roy always won the arguments, he didn't know what to say, still befuddled by all the shocking news he had been just recently introduced to.

Edward smirked triumphantly.

Alphonse decided that it was a good time to start talking. "Brother's sight and memory are coming and going because—"

"Never mind, I just remembered!" Roy quickly interrupted. "But why haven't you lost anything, Al?" Roy inquired.

"What is this, interrogation time?" Edward complained. He flopped further into the couch, crossing his arms across his chest, and pouted.

_Is he really blind?_ Roy couldn't help but wonder.

Alphonse sighed at his older brother's childish behavior. "You're so immature, Brother…" he muttered under his breath. Then, loud enough so that everyone could hear him, he said, "I haven't lost anything because Brother asked it not to."

Roy was surprised at this. "You mean the Gate listened to FullMetal's request?"

There were two nods, one solemn, one reluctantly, the nod barely even noticeable. I'm sure you can figure out which did which nod. I'll give you a hint as to which one did the reluctant nod: It wasn't Alphonse.

"Can we gooo nooooooow?" Edward whined, slightly startling Alphonse and Roy by the sudden loudness.

"Wait, FullMetal." Edward stopped and stayed still, signifying that he was listening. "Why were you pretending to be a woman? I know Alphonse already told me, but I want to see if you'll say the same thing."

Edward snickered and Alphonse put his head down in embarrassment of hismentally little brother.

"Let's leave it at what Al told you, shall we?" Edward grinned. He got up, and Alphonse quickly followed suit to make sure Edward wouldn't trip. Wouldn't trip over his own feet, that is.

"You're going?" Roy frowned.

"Yeah." Edward had a look on his face that clearly asked, "Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, where are you going to go now?"

The two instantly froze. They obviously didn't want to think about it.

Slowly, _very_ slowly, Edward finally got out the words, "We were going to go to Sensei's house." Only problem was, was that they came out in a different order. His reply really sounded more like, "Go to—we were going—house—to—Sensei's." But hey, he got the words out. No one ever said anything about order.

Alphonse tried next, but his voice sounded kind of strangled, and he kept stuttering, making it nearly impossible to figure out what word he was saying. What he was _trying_ to say, anyways.

As the two of them stood there sputtering, Roy tried to make some sense out of what they were babbling. Not one of the three heard the door slam open and another two people enter the room until they heard a clear voice.

"Ed and Al were planning on going to Izumi's, right?" Winry asked. Riza stood behind her.

"R-right," Edward confirmed, but it really sounded like he was trying to convince himself, or at least wishing that he had somewhere else to go first. _Anything_ to delay going to Izumi's, which would therefore prolong their death.

It was then brought to Winry's attention the choice of clothing attire he had picked. "Uh, Ed, what's with the outfit?"

Edward seemed to be thinking about what he was wearing, seeing as how he couldn't simply look down. Now that he wasn't trying, he looked more like a guy, despite his blonde hair tumbling past his shoulders. "Oh, just having some fun." He grinned. But then quietly, so that only Alphonse heard him, "Not. Stupid Gate ruined it."

Alphonse struggled to refrain from shaking his head, but the sigh managed to slip out.

"Is something wrong, Al?" Winry asked.

"No, it's—"

Just then the door banged open, cutting off Alphonse's answer.

"Fuhrer, sir, there's a problem with—Oh! Edward and Alphonse Elric? How'd you guys get back through the Gate?" There was some yelling coming from outside the building. "Oops, never mind; you'll have to tell me later. There's a problem you're needed for, sir," he said again, turning back to Roy.

"Alright, I'll be out soon," Roy told him, nodding in response to Havoc's salute. He turned back to Edward and Alphonse. "I'll be back. Just need to deal with this little problem really fast. Let's go, Hawkeye." Riza did a quick salute as Roy passed her before following him out the door, leaving Edward, Alphonse, and Winry standing there.

Edward finally broke it, scratching the back of his neck and saying, "Geez, talk about change of reactions…"

"Yeah," Alphonse agreed.

Remembering Winry's unexpected and unexplained sudden appearance, he asked her, "Winry, is there a reason you're here? We just saw you this morning."

"Of course there's a reason I'm here! I have something I need to ask and tell you," Winry said, suddenly turning serious.

"What is it?" Alphonse asked curiously.

"Did I see you off when you were leaving Resembool today?"

Surprised by this odd question, the answer came slowly. "Yeah…"

"Did I do or say anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well, I'd say it started off with when you asked to go to the station with us to see us off," Edward said honestly. "You usually just wave from the front door. You wave from your window if we're leaving early and you just woke up."

"…Anything else?"

"You gave us a bag of food when we were on the train. Speaking of which, can we have some, Al? I'm _starved_! Where is it?"

Realizing that they hadn't eaten anything for a long time, for more than 5 hours, which was new for Edward, and that he was hungry himself, Alphonse pulled out a bag from their luggage, which they had miraculously somehow gotten in.

Winry looked at the contents that Edward dragged out. _Hmm…So that's where the missing food went…_

When Alphonse noticed Winry looking at the food Edward was gulping down, he, being the considerate person he was, thought she was hungry and asked, "Winry, would you like some?"

"Ah, um, s-sure…" Quickly Winry stepped forward and picked up an apple.

"Is there anything you need to tell us, Winry?" Alphonse asked. It was just like him to notice the small details, like the light frown that had slightly creased Winry's brow. Edward paused from wolfing his food down to cast a worried glance in Winry's direction before turning back to his food. Of course, it was quickly done and only Alphonse caught it.

"Well…The Winry that saw you off this morning…wasn't me…"

"Hmm…" Edward mused.

"You don't seem surprised," Winry stated.

"Yeah, well, should I be? I mean, you gave us food when we were leaving Resembool!" Edward pointed out bluntly. He popped some more food into his mouth nonchalantly.

Alphonse quickly noticed the fiery aura building up around Winry and the hand held behind her back, no doubt clutching a wrench.

Of course, Alphonse, being the non-violent person he was, to distract Winry (and therefore preventing any blood-shed) asked her, "So if the Winry this morning wasn't you, then who was it? And where were you when all this happened?"

Winry blinked and the fiery aura diminished, to Alphonse's relief. "Hmm…Well, I don't know who it was. I didn't get a chance to see. But I did see a quick glimpse of their head. The hair…it reminded me of the top of a…palm tree…" Winry shook her head, as if to dispel the thought from it. "And they said, 'I'd kill you right now and get it over and done with, but then where's the challenge in that? Besides, it'll hurt him much more when he sees the blood spurting everywhere and the screams of pain echoing off the walls…Of course, I'll have to make sure he has his sight during the time…Well, I'm going to go and see how the FullMetal Pipsqueak is faring, so you just stay right here.' Obviously, the person's trying to hurt Ed. Making sure you have your sight during the time gives it all away," Winry added. She looked up to see Edward's reaction, surprised that he hadn't interrupted her during her long speech, let alone say anything. And froze.

Edward was stiff, unmoving.

"E-Ed? What's wrong?" Winry fretted.

"You…You weren't listening to what you just said, were you…?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"'I'd kill you right now and get it over and done with, but then where's the challenge in that? Besides, it'll hurt him much more when he sees the blood spurting everywhere and the screams of pain echoing off the walls'," Alphonse quoted. "Winry, the person's planning on hurting Brother by killing you right in front of him."

Apparently, Winry hadn't realized a word she had just said until now. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!" she shrieked.

"Jeez…" Edward muttered, unusually calm. "And the only one who ever called me 'FullMetal Pipsqueak' was Envy…But—"

Just then the door opened and Roy walked in, pulling his gloves off and tucking them into his pocket, muttering under his breath the whole time. Riza followed him into his office, the door clicking shut as he closed it behind her. Neither of them looked very happy.

"Oh, it's you," Edward said, as if it needed to be pointed out. How he even knew that it was Roy to begin with is beyond my reasoning. Then again, who just walks into the Fuhrer's office like it's nothing? "So? What's going on?"

"What is it, Fuhrer?" Alphonse asked. "Is something wrong?"

Roy sighed tiredly, plopping down in the chair at his desk and running a hand through black strands. "Yes, of course there's something wrong! There's always something wrong!" he exclaimed, exasperated. "Right now, there are some people, both the civilians and the military, that don't think it was right or fair that I became Fuhrer when Bradley suddenly 'disappeared'." The story was that King Bradley, along with his house, had mysteriously suddenly caught fire and burned down. No one knew, except the people close to Roy, that Bradley had been a homunculus, and that Roy had been the one to "dispose" him. The people thought that Bradley's house had suddenly burned down, and Bradley had been unable to get out, and had died. It _was_ partly true, though, so Roy didn't feel the need to correct anything.

"You mean…the people are rioting?" Winry asked.

"Yes," Riza confirmed, nodding her head. "That is correct, along with some of the military."

"So then maybe you should just give up the place of Fuhrer," Edward offered.

That Roy would not have. Slamming his fists against the wooden desk, startling everyone, he stood up, outraged, glaring at Edward. "And give up what I have worked so hard to gain!" he roared.

Edward was not prepared for Roy's sudden outburst. "Uh…"

"Anyways, no," Roy continued, completely ignoring the fact that Edward was at a loss for words, instead of provoking him further; his rage was consuming all other thoughts he had. "I will **not** back down from where I stand!"

"Alright, alright!" Edward held up his hands. "I get it already."

Roy studied him for a minute before nodding and sitting back down. "Good. So," he started, getting himself together again. "I thought I heard some commotion coming from here on my way back."

Edward folded his arms over his chest and looked away, obviously unwilling to tell him. "It's noth—"

"Envy somehow survived, sir," Alphonse quickly interrupted softly, yet somehow interrupting and cutting off Edward's answer of "It's nothing."

"Envy?" Roy asked, surprised.

"Yes, sir. He had taken Winry's form this morning to see us off from the train station when we were leaving Resembool, although we don't know why. Well, we're not really sure if it's Envy, but we're _almost_ positive that it is," Alphonse amended. "Winry described his hair with the top of a palm tree, and said that he had said, 'Well, I'm going to go and see how the FullMetal Pipsqueak is faring, so you just stay right here.' The only one who calls Brother 'FullMetal Pipsqueak' is Envy…And if it wasn't Winry that saw us off at the station, then who was it? That was a really good disguise, so it could've been Envy. He _can_ shape-shift, after all," he reminded everyone. As if they needed to be reminded of that.

"Well, anyway," Edward said, his voice still unusually soothingly calm, "It doesn't really matter."

But his unusually soothingly calm tone of voice did not soothe anyone.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Winry screeched. "IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT I'M GOING TO BE KILLED?"

"Really, FullMetal, I didn't think you were like that," Roy put in.

Only Alphonse's observant eye caught the trembling fist and the tightly clenched jaw.

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**Ozay, zer we go. I zupdated my zory. I hope you all enzoyed it!**

…**And, uh, by the way…It's okay if you're confused; I have no idea what I'm talking about either…**

**And with zat zaid, I zhall be on my way!**

**Laine Squirrel**


	9. Chapter 8

**I am here! I know…I've neglected you all! …Well, I haven't really neglected you all…I just haven't been able to update! 'Cuz of…school…Blegh. But! I've been writing in my notebook and then typing it up on Fridays or at least something like that…So I've been half-updating! I'm just trying to make it long so you guys have something to read! (It's relatively long, anyways) (It would probably take me this long to write a short chapter anyways, so it's alright with you guys if I do this, right? Right.) Oh, and I think I'm planning on writing a Naruto story too, so I think I'm going to write a Naruto chapter and then a Sight chapter. After I finish Sight I'll move on to Run. Keep an eye out for whenever I get the Naruto story! (I'm working on the first chapter now, and after I put it up I'll move on to Sight, and if people like the Naruto story I'll work on the second chapter after I've put up the next chapter of Sight. Confusing, I know.)**

**Disclaimer: Do we really have to go over this every time? Fine. I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. Sucks, doesn't it, that Hiromu Arakawa's brain is much more imaginative than yours…

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**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
9/30/06

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Edward collapsed into a chair back in the hotel room the two were occupying during their stay in Central. Alphonse sat down much more gently than Edward had. Winry had gotten hold of a room in the same hotel as them that was just a few doors down that she could use. The two brothers just sat in silence for awhile until Edward broke it by resting his elbows on his knees, dropping his head into his hands, and letting out a depressing sigh.

"You really are worried, aren't you, Brother?" Alphonse ventured.

Edward didn't answer.

"You know…It's alright if you're scared…you don't have to hide it," Alphonse tried.

Edward remained in the same position, giving no reply. But Alphonse, with his observant eye, noticed him twitch slightly, and knew that he was listening, even though he wasn't showing it.

"You really are scared, aren't you? Back…Back in the Fuhrer's office, I—I saw your hand—It—It was trembling…" Alphonse didn't mean to make it seem that he was scared by confronting Edward about Edward being scared, but all of the sudden, his throat had closed up and he found himself stuttering and drifting off almost every three other words.

"…"

"You don't have to hide it, Brother. It's not like anyone will not understand. If you're scared, it's alright to depend on me, and Winry, and the Fuhrer, and everyone. You always worry about us, Brother. Let s worry about you, now…Brother?"

Even though he had been subconsciously taking everything Alphonse said in, none of it had _really_ registered into Edward's **mind**. It was all fog. Abruptly he stood up and walked over to the window and shoved it open. Almost immediately a gust of wind blew in, as if it had been waiting, and whirled around Edward, caressing his face gently. _It's not fair,_ the wind whispered quietly to Edward. _It's very not fair. But it's okay. Rest. Sleep._

With a _whoosh!_ the wind swept back outside and away, leaving Edward to fall unsupported to the floor.

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The sharp knock on the door jolted Alphonse out of his trance with a shock, and he looked up, around, at the door, surprised. Slowly he got up from his seat at the table, leaving a now cold cup of tea by itself, and shuffled over to the door and opened it. "Wha…"

"H-Hi Al…"

"W-Winry! What are you doing here?" Alphonse asked.

"Well…," Winry mumbled, scuffling one boot on the floor shyly. "I was just wondering how you both were doing, is all. It's not really anything that important, so if you're busy, I can go—"

"No, no, it's alright. We're not really doing anything. Brother was…uh, really tired when we got back, so he's sleeping right now, but you're welcome to come in and wait until he wakes up. In the meantime, you can have a cup of tea." Alphonse opened the door wider so that if she wanted to, Winry could slide in.

"…Thanks, Al. I think I'll do that."

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He woke up to a quiet room. Slowly he stumbled out of the bed he had been lying on and looked around. Winry was sitting in a chair, her arms resting on the table that was in front of her, her head on top of that, asleep. There was no sign of Alphonse anywhere.

"Aww, geez," Edward muttered. "It would appear that my sight has been returned to me…Damn memory." He made his way to where

Winry was and shook her gently. It was awhile before Winry finally lifted her head and looked at him, and even then she still looked half-asleep.

"Mmm…Wha—Ed! You're finally awake!" Winry jumped up quickly.

"Uh, yeah, I'm awake…," Edward looked around again. "Where's Al?"

Winry opened her mouth to tell him that she didn't know, but as if on cue the door opened and Al walked in.

"Ah, Brother, you're awake! You had me worried when you suddenly just fell to the floor…oops," Alphonse finished, just remembering (after finally noticing) that Winry was still there.

"**What!**" Winry screeched. "You told me Edward was tired, _not_ that he had _collapsed_!"

"Well…he _did_ go to sleep since he was tired and wanted to get some rest…it just wasn't in the way you thought," Alphonse said, feeling guilty for not telling Winry the complete and entire truth. "Besides, if I had told you that, you would have flipped out like you're doing right now," he added, suddenly becoming reasonable.

Winry froze and stared blankly at Alphonse for a long time before she gave up, letting herself fall back into her chair. She sighed and, leaning her head back, covered her eyes with her right hand, letting the left hang limply at her side.

"Winry?" Edward asked tentatively, nervous of what mood she was currently in.

"Winry, are you alright?" Alphonse asked.

There were a few moments of silence before Winry sighed again. "Geez, you've got to be kidding me," she muttred. "Of course I'm flipping out! I'm worried."

"Winry…," Edward started. He let out the rest of his breath in a small, light sigh and smiled. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Really."

"You may say so," Winry frowned, "but I still doubt that. Besides, I'm entitled to worry about you. The both of you. You're my friends, and…and I care about you."

An awkward silence filled the room as a blush started to creep across Winry's face. Edward's face was also turning red. Alphonse's cheeks had turned a light pink, but he really had no idea why.

"Ah…um…uh, I'll come back later to check on you. Go get some rest, Ed. You should also get some sleep, Al," Winry rushed out as she walked backwards to the door. "Uhm, see you guys later!" In a flash she slipped on her shoes and dashed out the door.

"Uh, oh…kay…?" Edward half-asked half-said slowly, long after Winry had left. "I think I'll get some more sleep…Although Winry's right, Al. You should get some sleep too," Edward continued, his face still beet-red. Edward went back over to the bed he had slept on, and pulling the blue blanket high over his head, as if the coolness of the color could wash away his embarrassment, went quiet.

A few more moments before Alphonse quit staring at the lump on the bed and moved to the flat bed to go to sleep on after turning off the lights. _Can't waste electricity_, he figured, yawning sleepily.

—oOo—

Slowly Edward sat up, rubbing his head, wincing. Things were not well. His head hurt, he could only see darkness, and he was having trouble remembering things. Every time he tried a short stab of pain would slice through, creating a bigger headache, He was just glad that he didn't forget being told that he was forgetting things. **That** would just make more of a mess of things.

Groggily he stumbled out of bed and felt his way to the window, repeatedly tripping over objects in the process. He felt like he was suffocating—he needed fresh air, to cool his mind and calm his thoughts. As soon as he reached the wall he turned right and kept walking, following the wall, his hand running against it. He reached the window just as a knocking sound came from the door. He sighed and pushed the window open. There was hardly any breeze. Leaving it open, Edward made his way to the door, once again following the wall. When he reached the door he fumbled for the knob and tried to pull it open, only to find it jerk not even an inch out of the frame. Exasperated, Edward let go of the handle and lifted his hand up until he reached the lock. Finally getting it loose, he pulled it out and wrenched the door open, more out of impatience then because of the incessant knocking that was pounding down the door, before realizing that he couldn't even see who it was. There was silence between him and the person who was visiting.

"Uh…hi," Edward said awkwardly. He scratched the back of his head with discomfort, only to find that his braid had fallen out while had been sleeping. _Ugh…you've gotta be kidding me!_ Edward inwardly groaned. _I answered the door and showed myself with my hair down? Noo!...Okay, I've got to calm down…I think I'm being overdramatic…Just…act…natural._

"…Edward?"

Edward recognized that voice in an instant. "W-Winry! What are you doing here?"

There was a sound of a boot scraping the floor. "Well…I did say I would come back to check on you, if you'll recall. And…there's also someone else here that wants to talk to you."

"Oh?" Edward said, surprised. "Who is it? Are they here now?"

"Yes," a new voice cut in. "I have an assignment for you, FullMetal," Roy added before Edward could ask what he was doing here.

"…Do I dare ask what it is?" Edward asked bluntly. "Besides, there's not really much I can do like this," he pointed out unnecessarily.

"Go get ready to leave. I have a car waiting out front. We'll talk in my office. Alphonse can come with, too, if he wants," Roy told him, completely ignoring what Edward just said.

"Fine," Edward grumbled, shutting the door. Not long after they heard a crash, Edward swearing, ad then a _thump!_, and then a cry of, "Brother! Are you alright?"

10 minutes later the door reopened and Alphonse emerged, followed by a still grumbling Edward.

"We're ready!" Alphonse said, almost a little too cheerfully. He helped Edward down the hall, Roy walking behind them. Since no one had told Winry that she couldn't go, she decided to tag along, trailing behind Roy.

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A vein popped out on Edward's head as he listened to what Roy was saying with growing, barely containable irritation and anger.

"…so, that's your assignment," Roy concluded. "Are you up to it, FullMetal?" He smirked. "Or is being a woman too hard for you? After all, you already did it once, and I hate to admit it, but it was nicely done. Although the clothes you're going to have to wear this time simply _must_ be more girly. Can't have you wearing those sport outfits; you need to look weak, fragile, vulnerable." Roy had gone into complete thinking mode, and had started pacing the room with his left hand tucked behind his back and the right hand placed under his chin in a fist, his chin snuggled in comfortably between the hole formed by the index finger and the thumb. He looked at the ground thoughtfully for awhile before he looked back up at Edward. Edward could feel the intense gaze Roy was staring into him. "Maybe you should wear—" Roy began.

Edward stood up abruptly and pounded his fists on the thing his legs had run into when he had tried to take a step forward: a table. "No way! That's going too, too far. I'm not cross-dressing! That fist time, I only did it for _fun_ and because I was _bored_ and I thought it would be a cool way to come back from being, technically, _dead_! Besides, I'm not going to wear _girly_ outfits!"

Roy's smirk grew wider. "I think you'll fit a little girl's size…After all, your personalities aren't that much different. Especially with that annoying whine you're giving off," he laughed.

That was it for Edward. Several veins burst out on his head as he climbed onto the table and started screaming something along the lines of, "Just who do you think you're calling a little girl who keeps whining and is good for very little?" while waving his arms around like…well, like a little kid. His "older brother" Al shook his head while looking at the floor in embarrassment. Winry just sighed and stared at Edward with lazy eyes that were full of exasperation at his childish behavior.

"Now, go back to your apartment and get prepared. Report back tomorrow at noon _already in your cover_," Roy ordered, completely ignoring Edward's tantrum.

Edward stopped waving his arms around and frowned. "Why do _I_ have to do it? What about Lieutenant Hawk—"

"Brigadier general," Alphonse interrupted.

"—Brigadier general Hawkeye? Why can't she…do it?" Edward added on lamely. He could practically feel the room darken almost instantly as a gloom came over Roy. The weight of the air was so heavy Edward couldn't get enough oxygen in through to the lungs.

"Brigadier general Hawkeye," Roy stated carefully, "Has already offered and tried. And we—I—failed to protect her."

Everyone thought he meant that Riza had died right away except for Alphonse. He was just too much of a positive thinker.

"So then she's hospitalized?" Alphonse now asked, looking at Roy curiously.

Roy stared back before answering, "Yes. Her wounds are severe. She's been arguing, saying she's alright and can work, but the more she resists and allows herself no time to heal properly, the worse the damage becomes. We've tried explaining that to her, but she still won't listen." Roy was looking at the floor by now, as if it was much more interesting to look at, and at the time, it probably was.

Edward had never seen Roy like this. It was shocking to him. He almost felt guilty for asking—almost. He still didn't see why _he_ had to do it.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Al, help me find my way out, will ya?"

Alphonse stood up in a hurry. "Sure, Brother. Good-bye, Fuhrer. We'll see you tomorrow." Roy didn't answer.

The two of them were almost out the door when Roy called them back, Edward turning around quite unwillingly.

"Oh, and Edward," Roy called, seemingly recovering from his little quiet stage. Edward could hear the smirk in Roy's voice and dreaded what he was about to hear next. He was tempted to plug his ears. "We're half-depending on one of your fainting attacks to occur during the time you're bait, so try to help it along, alright?"

Edward made a face that he hoped looked like he was glaring, although he wasn't sure what he looked like. He hoped he didn't look too stupid. His hate towards Roy grew as Roy continued on.

"And don't forget to wear the right clothes! See you tomorrow!" Roy said brightly, waving one hand good-bye. It's not like Edward could see it, but that part didn't really matter.

What mattered was that Roy got to see the result he wanted. He watched cheerfully from his door as Edward stomped down the hall, Alphonse almost running to keep up and make sure Edward turned in the right places and didn't crash into anything—or any**one**.

When he was sure Edward and Alphonse were long gone and no one else was close enough to hear him say anything, he closed the door while muttering not-so-quietly, "I just hope that nothing serious will happen to him…"

He froze as a voice behind him asked, "Nothing serious like what?"

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After being led to a chair by his brother, Edward flopped down onto it, still upset, although at what Al could not quite grasp.

"Brother, what is it now?" Alphonse asked, sighing.

"He said to report to his office tomorrow already wearing the disguise! You know what that means? It means," Edward charged on, not even wasting time to let Al get his mouth open, "that I'm going to have to walk through the building dressed in drag! Is he _purposely_ trying to humiliate me? Yes he is! He thinks this is funny!" Edward yelled, outraged. Al did his best to calm Edward down.

Back at the office, Roy sneezed suddenly, consciously aware of the intensifying stare that was thickening the air coming from the person seated on one of the couches.

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**…You don't have to tell me, I know it's kind of weird…Okay, it _is_ weird. But hey, you enjoyed it…right? Right? Right? …Neh. Well, I'm gonna go work on the first chapter of my Naruto story. Although I think it's going to be a bit short. Anyways, look out for that! And please review everyone! Questions, what you thought, any ideas? I'd to love to hear them all! (Trust me; it helps me out as well. You want to help me, don't you? Of course you do! (sweet smile))**

**And I really am sorry for the long wait. Really, 2 months! Whatever was I _thinking_?**

**G'bye --good-bye--, y'all --you all, everyone--! Ah'll --I'll-- talk to y'all later! (Thaht --that-- is, ah'course --of course--, if ya --you-- review ((and ah'll be answering yer --your-- reviews (((ah'course, ah --I-- can only reply if ya have an account and reviewed with it))))) Wow, lookit --look at-- all thawse --those-- parentheses! And then ah'll ahlso --also-- be talkin' to y'all the next tahm --time-- ah update!)**

**Laine Squirrel**


	10. Chapter 9

**I am so sorry I haven't updated for a long, long time! It's been so long I don't even know what to say, so I'll just let you read. (smiles) **

**Claimer of the Dis: And here I dis my claim of owning FMA. If that made any sense.

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**

**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
02/13/07

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**

"Grr…," Edward grumbled. "This…is…so…stupid!! I **refuse** to take part!!!" He waved his arms around in the air and kicked his legs blindly.

"Ed…! Calm down!! You're going to do this…Whether you like it…or…not!!" Winry cried, struggling to hold him still as she tried to put a circle skirt over his pants. "Besides," she argued, "at least it's not a tight skirt! I let you borrow my full skirt for a reason, I hope you realize, since I knew you wouldn't enjoy a miniskirt! Be grateful!!" Winry had agreed to help, although she still wasn't too sure she liked the possibilities of the outcomes.

_-Flashback-_

Winry sat there, quite unnoticed, as Edward stomped away, Alphonse close behind. She watched silently as Roy made Edward unhappier. And then she frowned as he closed the door and said, "I just hope that nothing serious will happen to him…"

Before she had anytime to think she heard herself demand, "Nothing serious like what?"

She watched, half-interested, as Roy stiffened and slowly turned around. "W-Winry! I uh, I thought you had gone…"

Winry stared hard at Roy. Her eyes bore down into his, unforgiving. "Obviously not. If _anything_ happens to either Ed _or_ Al, I will hold you _completely_ responsible!!" Tears welled up in her eyes at just the thought of either one of her best friends vanishing from her world. It had seemed like a miracle when Edward and Alphonse had just popped up at the Rockbell's door when they were said to have been on the other side of the gate; to be endangered when they just got back? Unallowable. She paused, seeing Roy's downcast look.

"I know," he said. "But—But it can't be helped! We need FullMetal's help. He hasn't been around for a long time now, so the killer won't know that he's with the military, and avoid Edward. Winry, you have to understand," Roy pleaded, seeing her disbelieving face. "Many innocent women have been killed. Other bystanders, as well. We can't let this go on...Yes, I know that it's dangerous. FullMetal will be our eighth attempt at trying to put a stop to this. And…I am prepared to take full responsibility. However, I will try to do my best to prevent any serious damage from being done, and hopefully make up for the lack of strength I had previously, with Hawkeye."

Winry wasn't sure how to respond to Roy's little speech. She stood there, thinking things over. If something were to happen to Edward, she could blame Roy. If something were to happen to Alphonse, she could blame Roy. But what good would it do to just blame Roy? It's not like she could kill him, or even just beat him up—he was Fuhrer! The outcome would be most unpleasant, chaotic, and tangled up. But she didn't want Edward or Alphonse within a quarter of a mile of danger, either. But then there was the sincerity of Roy's words, too. She glanced again at Roy's begging eyes. _Please_, they asked of her. _Please let this proceed._ And for some reason, Winry found herself trusting Roy's words, now. Roy wouldn't let anything happen to either of the Elrics, she figured. He wouldn't. He couldn't!

"…Fine…," Winry finally agreed. "I won't interfere. And I won't tell Ed about this conversation either, alright?" she informed Roy before he could even politely request that she didn't. "But again, I hope you hear me when I say this: if you let—"

"I won't," Roy promised. _…let them get too hurt, if not seriously wounded. We haven't been able to gather much information on this case_, he finished silently in his head. "Oh, and Winry," he started, catching Winry's attention again, "would you please pick out an outfit for Edward? You know what he'll come up with if left on his own."

Winry couldn't help but smile faintly, imagining the outcome. "I'll see what I can do," she told Roy. She walked out the door, leaving it to shut gently behind her.

_-End Flashback-_

"Come on, Brother! You know orders are orders," Alphonse informed him, also attempting to hold Edward still.

"I don't care right now!!" Edward screamed, trying to take off the skirt. He stopped moving, feeling a sharp pain at the side of his head. He blinked. He could see hazy figures of Winry and Alphonse standing over him. Winry was holding her hand to her opposite side, something clenched in her fist. Edward couldn't tell what it was despite his squinting, so figured it was a wrench.

Too suddenly there was another sharp pain in his head. He knew it couldn't of had been Winry, since she hadn't moved. Edward's vision blacked out again, and he felt himself fall to the side, holding his head in between his hands. There was a roaring sound in his ears and something piercing his head every second.

Winry brought the fist clutching her wrench up to lean the side of her forehead on, closing her eyes for a second. She opened her eyes as she started speaking to see Edward lying on the couch, holding his head, barely moving. "Really, Ed—Ed? Ed!!"

Alphonse was already rushing towards Edward. Winry joined him. Edward didn't scream; merely whimpered and whined, almost like a puppy, holding his head the entire time. He felt hot; he was burning inside. So hot he could barely get any air in; choking, gasping, and trying to get oxygen to his lungs. Winry and Alphonse knelt next to him, trying to help him, and calling his name. Their hands fretted over and around him, but thy stayed like that, unsure of where to put them and what they could do. But that was precisely the problem: there _wasn't_ anything that they could do, and they watched helplessly as Edward fell limp, like a doll a child had played with too much and had broken.

"E…Edward?" Winry asked hesitantly. She placed her hand gently on top of Edward's hands on the top of his head. "Edward, are you alright?"

Slowly his head lifted, just the tiniest bit, barely noticeable. It stayed like that for a second before suddenly jolting straight up, knocking Winry's hand away, crying, "Mom? Mom, where are you? It's too dark; I can't see anything!" He waved his arms in front f him, searching. His eyes were open and looking around, but he kept blinking. He looked down when Winry caught one of his hands. "Mom? Is that you? Why can't I see you? Why can't I see my hand? Mom, why can't I see anything?" Edward looked like he was about to cry.

Winry and Alphonse shared a nervous glance between each other. What was wrong with Edward? They snapped back to attention as Edward cried, "Wah…I'm scared! I don't wanna be all alone…" Edward was holding tightly onto Winry's hand, tugging gently.

"Uhm, Brother," Alphonse started.

Edward's head whipped around to face the direction he had heard Alphonse's voice. "Who was that? Who's there?"

Alphonse was shocked. Edward didn't recognize is voice? It was pretty obvious Edward didn't have his sight, but he didn't recognize Alphonse's voice? His little brother? Alphonse looked disbelievingly from Edward to Winry and back to Edward again. What was going on?

Edward had appeared to calm down a little, and his head was now tilted slightly to the side. "Uhm…hello?"

Alphonse didn't know what to say. Luckily, Winry did. "Hi, Ed. It's Winry. Winry and Al."

"You're Winry? I guess you do kind of sound like her…," Edward stated. "Except…You sound a little bit more…grown-up," Edward finally decided after a bit of thinking, wrinkling his nose a little as he said "grown-up." Then he giggled, like a small child that had just been shown something he found incredibly funny and amusing that no one else could understand. "Not like the Winry **I** know." He nodded, as if in confirmation with himself.

Winry started to ask what that was supposed to mean, but Alphonse cut in. "And...is that all you have to say about Al?"

Edward blinked, then grinned. "Al? My little brother? Oh, yeah, he is just so cute. It's really adorable to watch him go wherever I go. But shh," he whispered. "It's a secret."

Alphonse stayed knelt next to Edward, a blank expression on his face as he pondered over Edward's last statement. _It would appear that Brother's intelligence has been reduced…Quite a bit. Is that how Brother thinks of me? Cute?_ Alphonse wondered.

Winry sighed. "Ed…Al's right here in front of you. He has been the whole entire time."

Edward gasped, almost like it was pretend—and it most likely was, for the next second he was smiling again. "Heh. Guess the secret's out. I suppose when Al spoke earlier it did kind of sound like him. But older-sounding, too."

"**That's** how you think of me, Brother?.!" Alphonse finally burst out.

"Eh heh, well…yeah. But hey, what can I say? Hey, that rhymed," he noted unnecessarily. "Oh well. So then! Moving on, this darkness…? Is anyone gonna turn the lights on or should I?"

Winry glanced at Alphonse. He nodded. "Edward," Winry said, turning back to face him, "the lights are already on." At Edward's confused expression, she added in a smaller voice, "You're blind, Ed."

"…I uh, I see. And Mom? Where is she?" Edward inquired. He had gone expressionless.

"Mom's dead, Brother. She has been for more than five years," Alphonse told him quietly. It had been awhile since Trisha Elric had been mentioned. She was still part of the empty space in their hearts. Alphonse clenched his hand against his knee and set his eyes downcast. Winry was too caught up trying to calm Edward's reaction down that she did not notice.

"What?.! Mom's dead? No! I just saw her yesterday! She's still alive! Mom! Mom, where are you? Mom!! It isn't funny anymore! Please come out! ...Please?" he whimpered. Winry watched sadly. By then she had figured out that Edward's memories had been erased back to the time when Trisha had still been alive. Edward wasn't taking things well, for sure. Both he and Alphonse had been attached to their mother, and when she had died they hadn't taken it well. It was like they were repeating the same thing over again.

It was then that Winry noticed from her peripheral vision the quiet state of Alphonse's silence. She turned her head just as he stood up straight, head still cast down, hands clenched tightly. "Stop it, Brother," he whispered quietly to Edward. Edward didn't hear him, still calling out for their mother. "Stop it, Brother!" Alphonse repeated, yelling loudly. Edward froze. "You think you're the only one that misses her?.!" Alphonse cried. "Because you're not!" He turned around and fled, slamming the door behind him.

"Al!" Winry called after him. She started to get up to follow when she felt something warm wrap around her wrist closest to Edward. She turned back and looked down at her right wrist, which Edward was holding onto with his own right hand.

"Don't."

"Ed, what are you talking about, 'don't'?.! Your **little brother** just ran off, incase you didn't realize! He could get hurt!!" Winry started to wrench her arm away, or try to, at least, but Edward held on tightly.

"Don't, I said. Don't worry about it. Let me finish, will you?" Edward requested a bit impatiently when Winry made a sound of protest. She quieted. "Thank you. As I was saying, don't worry about it. I'll get him. You wait here." Edward started to get up and walk forwards, the direction which he had heard the door slam when Alphonse ran off.

"But Edward, how? You can't see anything!" Winry reminded, following him.

"So?"

"So"—Winry caught Edward as he bumped into the table—"how are you gonna find Al if you can't even see where you're going?.!"

Edward stopped long enough to turn around and smirk before turning back around again and proceeding forwards a little less cautiously than he probably should have been. "I'll find him, you watch and see. Winry," he finally sighed after a while of searching along the wall, "will you please just bring me to the door? Time is being wasted."

"Yeah, well, what do you think you'll be doing when you get outside and have no idea where you are or even what anything or anyone looks like?.!" Winry demanded, outraged at Edward's insanity. "I swear, the two of you truly are brothers! You both don't think things all the way through, and you both don't realize what you're doing half the time—no! **More** than just half the time!"

"Wow—harsh," Edward winced, chuckling a bit. "I always thought Al to be the rational thinker between us. Now, will you **please** show me the location of the door?"

"Fine, but only if that means I'm coming with," she agreed, and led him to the door, which actually had only been a teensy bit more to the left.

Edward opened the door as small as possible, slipped out, and held the door shut as Winry pushed on it, trying to open it.

"Ed!! Ed, you little liar! Open the door, now!! Ed!!" Winry screamed, furious.

"Sorry, Winry," Edward said, brushing off the 'little' insult. He alchemized the door shut so Winry could not open it (easily, anyways) and continued with, "but Al and I need to have a little brotherly talk. Don't worry, I'll be fine!" he called cheerfully. "Besides," he muttered under his breath as he ran off, "it's not like I ever gave my consent to you coming along anyways."

Not like Winry could hear him over her pounding and yelling.

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So it was a **little** bit harder than he thought it would be.

…Okay, let's just say that things hadn't gone quite as he had planned since he had merrily left Winry trying to kick the door down. He had stumbled over many pebbles and other such small objects and had run into so many people that he had begun to ask every one in which direction the closest river was.

After falling so much that he felt sore and bruised all over, it was a relief to Edward when he finally heard what he had been hoping to hear for some time now: the sound of running water. He stepped forward softly, listening closely. He could hear Alphonse talking. As he listened to what his little brother was saying, it sounded like Alphonse was having a conversation with himself.

"I know I shouldn't be mad at Brother, but I just couldn't help it! I mean, even if he doesn't know that Mom's dead, he isn't the only one that misses her…Grr…I should go apologize to Brother; that **was** a little harsh on my part…" Alphonse started to get up when he noticed Edward standing there out of the corner of his eye. He leapt up, crying, "Br-Brother!…You didn't…didn't hear all that I said, did you?"

Edward heard himself say, "Well, I dunno. What did your monologue start with?" as thoughts whizzed through his head, staying just long enough for him to see them and read them, but not grasp them and understand them. His memory had been erased back to when Trisha was still alive? _Which means…Mom really is…_

"Al," Edward said, interrupting Alphonse's poor attempt at coming up with something to say.

"…so don't worry about—Huh? Yes, Brother?" Alphonse asked, his hands freezing in position from waving them about pathetically.

"Mom…She's really dead, isn't she?" Edward asked.

"…Yeah."

Edward walked forwards a couple of steps. He stopped when Alphonse instinctively told him to stop walking or he'd walk into the river, the younger brother forgetting that he was mad at the older. Edward sat down. He felt another presence next to him and a weight sat down there with a sigh. The two Elric brothers sat in silence. People chattering could be heard farther up and the peaceful sound of the water running along in the river could be heard in front of the two boys.

"Hey…Al?" Edward finally asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly, okay?" Edward knew this was probably going to hurt Alphonse to answer, but he knew his younger brother would answer honestly, because that was just how he was. Edward most likely hadn't even needed to of have asked in the first place, but he just wanted to hear to be sure.

"Of course I will. I always do," Alphonse told him, knowing something was up. "What is it?"

"Well…There's…There's something wrong with me, isn't there?" Edward braced himself for the answer, gut feeling telling him that he already knew what it was going to be.

"It depends on which term you're saying that there's something wrong with you. Technically, no, there's nothing wrong with you. But your memory has been erased back to when we were little, when—when Mom was still alive. Well, I suppose it was more of taken away than erased, but it's all not really mattering at this point," Alphonse sighed. "So, yeah, I suppose there **is** something wrong with you," he decided, contradicting his own words.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'taken away'? Please, Al, tell me everything," Edward asked, trying to make sense of what appeared to be a mess.

And so Alphonse explained everything that he could as best as he could. He told Edward abut the Gate, about Envy, about the story behind Envy, and everything else that Edward had forgotten. By the time Alphonse finally got it all out, Edward had learned a lot.

"Wow," Edward said once Alphonse was finished. "And you're saying I forgot all **that**?"

"Yeah. Oh, yeah," Alphonse said, blinking as he remembered something, "I forgot to tell you that you got a mission from the Fuhrer—"

"—that you're about to be **late** getting to!" a new voice interrupted. A recognizable voice. _Verrry_ recognizable.

Edward jumped up, turning around as he did so. "W-Winry! We were just—Aah!" he managed to get out before he went flying from the force of Winry slamming her wrench into his face.

"Do you know how **worried** I was about you two?.! You can't just run off like that!! What am I going to do if I lose you guys too?.!" Winry screamed, still beating the two idiot Elric brothers up. "Huh?.!"

"Winry, we're sorry! We were just about to head back now! We're sorry!!" Alphonse pleaded, trying to escape Winry's Scary Wrench of Doom. Winry had had quite an influence on majority of the two boys' actions since their childhoods.

Abruptly Winry put her wrench down and turned around. "Let's go. You're gonna be late for your mission, Ed."

Alphonse put his hand on his brother's shoulder and led him after Winry. "Winry…You're not mad, are you?" he asked timidly.

Winry looked down. "No…"

"So," Edward said happily, cheerful that Winry wasn't mad, "what's my mission?"

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**Well then, I do hope you enjoyed! I do think that I've actually made this confusing, so if it does make you confused, _please _tell me, 'cause there's no other way for me to find out. (nods)**

**I hope to hear from everyone who read this! (grins)**

**Laine Squirrel**


	11. Chapter 10

**Um, yeah…Hi guys. Been a long time, huh? I'm sorry!! It's just…SCHOOL IS HORRIBLE!! (And I've kinda been lazy) I'll admit, reviews are what motivate me to write, and, well…Let's just say that for Chapter Nine, I only got 3 reviews. I'll also admit that did depress me, but I decided to continue writing for the 3 people that proved to me that they read and liked my story. (nods) So, I hope you guys like! (I'm finally getting to the plotline!) **

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except for the idea. I mean, unless someone's already come up with it…But I wouldn't know if they had or not, so please don't be mad…**

**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
04/16/07

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**

The door slammed open just as Roy was about to say, "They're late…," and Winry and Alphonse followed by Edward rushed in.

Winry and Alphonse appeared to of had talked some things over before arriving because Winry continued to the couch where she had Edward sit down so she could do some last minute touch-ups while Alphonse plundered on, taking Roy aside.

"What is it, Alphonse?" Roy asked, glancing at Edward from the corner of his eyes, who was chatting animatedly away to Winry.

"Uhm, well, you see, Col—Fuhrer," Alphonse started, his eyes averted towards the ground, "we have a bit of a problem." His eyes darted in Edward's direction quickly.

Roy noticed. He sighed inwardly, knowing Edward had wreaked trouble again. "What is it, Al?" he repeated patiently, trying to get Alphonse to tell him before the young boy got too worried and chickened out.

Alphonse took a deep breath before he blurted everything out as fast as he could.

"I see," Roy mused after Alphonse had finished. He frowned. "Yes, that could be a problem…" Roy and Alphonse simultaneously looked back over at Edward. Edward was still sitting on the couch, but now he had his hands in his lap and was kicking his legs back and forth like he was splashing water with his feet. He was still talking to Winry. It looked like she was trying to explain something to Edward, and that Edward wasn't getting it.

"What should we do?" Alphonse asked worriedly. "Do you think…maybe…we should try to make it a game or something?"

"We may have to," Roy said. "However, it's not like Ed was not an intelligent child, so he may understand what's going on if we explain everything to him." Hawkeye had joined Winry and Edward's conversation. Roy and Alphonse joined the three.

"Wait, so I'm supposed to run from a person that's going to talk to me?" asked a perplexed Edward.

"Uhm, not quite Ed. You missed all the steps before that. You're supposed to do that after you walk around aimlessly for awhile—oh, but I guess you can't do that, so I guess you'll just sit somewhere—until someone comes up to you who you will talk to for a bit **but will go nowhere with** until after that bit and then if they ask you to go somewhere with them go ahead and go with them—hmm, that contradicts what I said earlier, so ignore the part where I said you'll go nowhere with anyone, 'cause you'll obviously be going _somewhere_—and the Fuhrer will send someone to try and have you go with them instead and if the first person you were originally going to go with puts up a little fight then it must be the serial killer guy the military is after so you should go with the officer the military sends to fetch you," Winry corrected him, "and not the guy trying to take you away. Of course, if the person still puts up a fight and won't let you leave, don't make a big deal of it; go with them, 'cause if that happens the military will follow you in secret. Does this all make sense?" she asked. She looked at Edward to make sure he understood what she had told him to do.

Edward's eyes were like spinning circles. He held up a finger in the I-don't-get-what-you-just-told-me-so-hold-on-a-second-so-I-can-get-someone-else-who-does-get-it-to-explain-it-to-me-in-simpler-terms way.

Winry sighed.

Roy sighed.

Riza refrained from any action or comment.

Alphonse tried to translate to Edward what Winry had just said in simpler terms.

Edward didn't understand very well.

Alphonse was about to try again but was interrupted by Roy.

"If we could," Roy interrupted, "hurry this up, that would be great. I have a lot of paperwork I need to take care of."

Riza, Winry, and Alphonse all thought, _So _now _he cares about it!_ Riza continued in her own thoughts, _You slacker._

Alphonse sighed. He stood up and also helped Edward to stand as well. "Alright, then, let's go. I'll try to explain on the way there."

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"Brother, are you _sure_ you understand what to do?" Alphonse asked, still fretting about whether Edward would be alright or not.

"Yep, sure do!" Edward reassured his little brother cheerfully. "You can leave everything to me."

"If you're sure then," Alphonse said hesitantly. He was worried that something might go wrong. And as much as he didn't want to believe or admit, he had every reason to be worried—things just naturally tended to never go well whenever within eyeshot, earshot, or within range of Edward for word to be able to be sent to him quite easily enough. Just thinking about that got Alphonse remembering all the other times Edward managed to get himself a date with Trouble, and the poor boy started to sink sulkily into a gloomy depression as it occurred to him just how many times his older brother proved to the world exactly how reckless he could be. Alphonse sneaked a glance at Edward.

Edward was patting all around himself in curiosity, trying to figure out where he was sitting. He smiled in delight when he discovered the water behind him, and he turned half way so that he could dip his left hand in the water in a comfortable position after taking off the glove (because of his auto-mail, Edward was wearing long sleeves, gloves, and a long skirt). Watching his brother, Alphonse did think that Edward looked pretty, especially since his hair shone even brighter due to the glistening water.

Of course, the peaceful image was ruined by the dopey, kid-like grin stretched across Edward's face. Apparently, since Alphonse had not said anything, Edward had assumed that Alphonse had taken off and already left. Because Edward had already reached that conclusion, Alphonse decided to really leave. _Oh well_, Alphonse thought as he walked away. _If Ed says he knows what he's doing, might as well just leave things to him. Besides, I'm sure he'll come up with something if things get out of hand._

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Edward was bored, to say the least. He had been sitting there for who knows how long and darkness, his only entertainment to look at, didn't help with telling the time much. So when he heard a voice that was directed toward him, Edward leapt for the chance to speak to someone.

"Hello there. If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing?"

Irritated by boredom, but still wanting to talk to someone, Edward replied with, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm sitting here, and it's boring as hel—lo," Edward said, correcting himself before he came off as a foul-mouthed young 'lady.' "I mean, what I meant to say was hello."

Edward heard a chuckle. "Yes, I see. I was running some errands for myself, and I couldn't help but notice you still sitting there even after I entered and exited several shops. Are you waiting for someone?"

"Um, yes. Well, no. I guess, kinda?" Edward said, confusing himself with his own words. Winry and Alphonse had gone over as to what Edward was supposed to say and do with Edward several times, but Edward had not been paying very close attention and could not remember anything that had been said. It was probably time to wing it. _Besides_, Edward figured, _at least I'll get the objective done, right? That's what's important._ Winry had dumped so many little details on Edward that all Edward could remember were the mission details.

Translation: All Edward could remember was the reason he was being sent on the mission.

_Aaaghh, what am I gonna do?! Winry's gonna…Winry's gonna…Winry's gonna kill me!! (Unless I die here on this mission first.)_, Edward fretted.

Edward was torn from his panicked state of mind when he heard another chuckle. He turned towards the direction of the laughing, and almost immediately an explanation rose up.

"I—I'm…sorry…It's just that you seemed to be deep in thought and you were making these weird faces…!" Edward heard the man manage to say in between fits of laughter. "You should have seen your—oh. Oh! I apologize. I did not realize you were…Um, that is…," the man trailed off uneasily.

Edward forced himself to laugh it off lightly. "Hey, no problem," he said easily. At least, he said that in a tone of voice he _hoped_ sounded breezy. His blindness bothered him just as much as it obviously did the man, but it wasn't like Edward or anyone could do anything much about it, so Edward had decided that he wouldn't bother anyone over it. He knew that it was a stupid choice, but he didn't—

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. You'll have to excuse my rudeness," Edward said with a small laugh when he realized that the man had been talking. He had been so distracted by—

"Um, hey!" Edward heard the man cry out.

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Fuhrer Roy Mustang wasn't sure about what to do. Because he was Fuhrer, he didn't have to worry about these kinds of missions, but when he heard that the victims were _women_ and children…Well, let's just say that the Fuhrer hasn't changed much since Edward and Alphonse first met him as Lieutenant Colonel in Resembool (after their incident with human transmutation). Roy had taken it upon himself to find out and catch the criminal personally. As some people found it noble, Riza Hawkeye found it as slacking; every time Riza brought up paperwork for Roy, Roy would use the excuse of working on the mission to neglect his real responsibilities.

In any case, back to the matter at hand. The story so far: Alphonse left Edward sitting at the fountain. A man walked up and started making light conversation with Edward. Edward did not seem to be listening too well. Very suddenly, Edward passed out. The man caught Edward in time, but did not seem to know what to do next. A military officer was sent to retrieve Edward, but before said officer could reach destination, another unknown man walked up and said something to the other man, holding out his hand. Whatever was said became apparent as Edward was handed off from one man to the other. The first man walked off. The second was about to do the same when the military officer showed up and started talking to him. Because the original plan needed Edward to be awake for it to work, the result was with the man walking off with Edward.

The story now: The military was trailing the stranger with Edward. The stranger turned into an alley. Roy, in the lead, stopped, holding out his hand to indicate for Alphonse, Winry, Riza, and his other soldiers to do the same. Cautiously Roy peered around the corner, his eyes darting around, trying to find any sign of life. Finding nothing, Roy squinted a little, thinking of the possibility that he could not see anything important because of the darkness of the alley. Roy's eyes widened slightly and he took a small intake of breath as he got up from where he knelt and ran forward and turned, so that he stood full-out in the opening of the alley, looking in.

Just as he had realized, the alley was a dead-end, and it was empty.

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Irritation was beginning to kick in. Roy had no idea as to where Edward had disappeared to. A chip began to form on his head the longer he thought about the problem and exactly what had happened. From what he had been able to tell, everything was like a situation that could happen to any young lady (passing out), but after the man turned into the alley and vanished, things were no longer what they seemed.

Things were no longer what they appeared to be, almost like they had passed into a different world…Roy looked up when there was a knock at the door. Straightening himself out he called, "Come in. Oh, Al. What can I help you with?"

"Um, I don't mean to intrude on you or anything, and I apologize for dropping in so abruptly, but…I was thinking about where Ed could have gone, and that reminded me about the Gate."

"The Gate?" Roy repeated.

"Yes. The Gate sometimes just appears, and can take things away and then vanish, as if never even there."

"It's true that the Gate does that, but…didn't I destroy the Gate on this side and you and Ed destroy the Gate on the other side?"

"I took that into consideration as well, but…if using that theory and saying that the Gate could no longer be accessed, then how did Ed and I cross the Gate?" Alphonse pointed out. "Unless…unless the Gate…"

"…was somehow created again!" Roy finished. He got up from his chair and started pacing back and forth, a habit he tended to do once he got to thinking. "It was created again, or someone called it back, or…a whole entire organization got curious and opened it, just like last time! I don't know. Which sounds the most likely, Al?" Roy knew he'd thought something important, _really _important, and every time he was about to say it out loud to Alphonse, some other stupid idea would pop out of his mouth. Roy couldn't even remember what it was that he was about to say, but it was what one would "on the tip of the tongue," and it was bugging Roy a lot that he couldn't say whatever it was that he was trying to say. It was like something—or some**one**—was messing with his mind and his mouth.

Alphonse did not appear to notice. "I think it was created again, because that would be the result of any of them," he said, a thoughtful expression on his face. "But right now, honestly, I don't really care about the 'how.' What I want is the 'why.'"

"Yes, I'm sure," Roy said, relaxing a little. Anyone could see that Alphonse cared for his older brother deeply. The young boy would do what it took to get Edward back. Even so, Roy could not think of a single move they could make that would bring them closer to Edward quickly except waiting. They could search all they wanted, but Roy doubted they would find anything.

"Al," Roy told the boy after he realized that he was still quietly sitting there. "You and Winry are staying at a nearby hotel, right? Why don't you go ahead and go back there and relax some? There are some things I want to think over…Right now, I don't think there's much we can do but wait for some kind of clue to be found. We could try searching, but I really don't think we'll find anything, especially since it's something that can appear and then disappear as if never there."

"That's true…" Alphonse said as he stood up. "I guess I'll try to do that, but I don't think I'll be able to sit around long while my brother is in danger. I doubt Winry can, either. She's very upset."

"Alright, but…Please, don't try to go and find Edward by yourselves, okay?" Roy asked. Alphonse nodded before leaving.

Roy sighed. Knowing the situation always helped, of course, but just knowing the situation _this_ time wasn't going to be able to be of much use.

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Slowly, Edward blinked into consciousness. He put his hand to his head, thinking. His surroundings were not familiar; majority was of just stone. There was an opening to the path a little bit further in front of him and to the left. He could not name where he was. The first thing he had noticed was that the air seemed so still, as if there were no living creature breathing it in. It was almost like it was stale.

The second thing Edward noticed, however, was that he could see. The fact that he could see made him remember that he wasn't supposed to be able to see, which then made him think about exactly what had happened that had made Edward go blind originally, which made him remember all of the things that he wasn't supposed to be able to remember, meaning…

"…this isn't in Ametris," Edward said in realization.

"You're quick," a voice said. The voice laughed as a new though occurred. "Or maybe not so quick. You were sitting there an awful long time before you finally came to that conclusion."

Edward looked around for the voice, recognizing it and wanting to make sure. "You…What are **you** doing here?" he demanded.

"Hey. Nice to see you again, too, pipsqueak," Envy greeted. "How ya been?" He was squatting on a stone ledge that stuck out of the grey surrounding further up above Edward's head, peering down.

"What are you doing here?" Edward repeated.

"Do you even know where we are?" Envy shot back. "You're the guest here, pipsqueak, and…Well, I guess I shouldn't tell you just yet, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" Edward shouted at Envy, standing up. "Where are we? What are you doing here?"

"You'll find out what I'm talking about soon enough," Envy replied easily. "And what I'm doing here is because of where we are."

"Well then, where are we?" Edward asked, starting to lose what ever patience he had managed to keep with him so far.

"Use your brain, pipsqueak."

"Just tell me where we are already, dammit! And stop calling me 'pipsqueak!'"

"Tch. Fine already. You're no fun." Envy smirked. "You sure you wanna know where we are?"

"Just tell me!"

Envy's smirk grew larger.

"Why, we're inside the Gate."

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**Dun dun dun DUUUNNN!!! Yeah, so, that is the beginning of the plot! (I know, it's already chapter ten and I'm _just _****getting to the plotline) But hey, at least I got there at all, right? (smile) And I realize it's a bit short…Sorry! I thought that whoever did read this would like having _a_ chapter instead of _no_ chapter…**

**I'm putting the long comments on the bottom, I've decided, 'cause I remember that I don't like it when there's a long introduction 'cause I wanna read it, but I wanna read the story first, and I like to read things in order, so it frustrates me when I can't get to the story until after awhile…Yeah…**

**So, um, I wanna say that the reason why I've kinda been…not updating…is 'cause I've been working on some AMVs!! Yay! (Or maybe not) I've made two, and I'm working on the third. They're up on YouTube. They're both FMA, too. Is anyone interested in seeing them? If so, look up 'LightIceShadow'. I made both of them. Tell me what you think, please! **

**For those of you who haven't caught on, I LIKE FEEDBACK. **

**Please, do review, and tell me what you think, both about the AMVs (or you can do that on YouTube if you have an account, I guess) AND the story.**

**Thank you! (smile)**

**Laine**

**Squirrel**


	12. Chapter 11

**I be sooooooo sorry guys!! I know, I'm a horrible person! I haven't updated in such a long time! I mean… four months! (To me, that's a long time) I'm just glad it didn't turn into a year! That would be bad. Eh heh. Yeah… Heh. I hope you guys like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Um, yeah... FMA? Not mine... Never was... ...Yeah.**

**Sight  
By Laine Squirrel  
08/13/07

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"You heard me. What did you think I said?" Envy asked with irritation.

"What am I doing here? I haven't done anything. Hey!" Edward yelled when Envy got up and walked off. "Where are you going? Why am I here? Did you bring me here?" Edward let all his questions pour out, hoping one of them would catch Envy's attention and make him turn around. Edward was left in silence.

Slowly Edward got up. He started walking cautiously towards the only entrance to the circular room: a tunnel. The only thing Edward could hear were his footsteps echoing against the stone walls. Faintly, though, Edward could hear a lot of noise, like traffic and people talking. As he neared the end of the tunnel the noises got louder.

Edward was shocked to find a city spread out underneath the ledge he stood on—a huge city, just like the Lost City. The only difference was that there was a buzz of human life coming from this city. Edward followed the path down into the city.

Edward walked into what seemed to be the city's center and sat down on a bench nearby. What was he supposed to do? He sat there for what seemed to be an hour when he noticed a woman staring at him. She beckoned. Edward looked around to see if it was possible that the woman was gesturing at someone else. There was no one around him. Puzzled, Edward turned back to the woman and pointed at himself. The woman smiled and nodded. Edward got up and walked over to her.

"Do you need help with something, ma'am?" Edward asked politely, unable to think of any other reason that the woman would need him for. She seemed to be in her 30's.

"Actually," the woman said softly, "I was wondering if _you_ needed anything. You've been sitting there for the last two days."

"I…have?" Edward asked, confused. It had only seemed to be an hour. And besides that—"But nighttime hasn't come around once…It hasn't gotten dark or—"

The woman laughed, a sound much like chimes. "There is no nighttime, Edward. Not here. Sacrificia always looks like this."

"…Hey, how did you know my name?"

"My name is Enna," the woman said. The only thing that might have been a response to Edward's question was a smile. "Edward, why don't you come to my house? I have something that would probably fit you. My son's about your size. I would think that you would want to change out of that."

"That" was a skirt and shirt. Although Edward did want to change into something that was more meant for him, he wasn't so sure about this Enna person.

When he hesitated, Enna got up and started dragging him off. "Come, come, don't be shy. It's not like I have a cauldron back home boiling so I can cook you and eat you or anything." She laughed.

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"Welcome to my humble abode!" Enna said cheerfully.

Enna's house was anything and everything but humble. It was a mansion. A huge mansion. The trail leading to the double doors was bordered with all kinds of flowers. Edward followed Enna down the trail. The mansion was outside of the city, much quieter compared to the city. When Enna opened the door, the first thing Edward saw when he peered inside was water. The water surrounded another building inside, and from what Edward could see, it went all around. There were stepping stones leading to the real front door.

Edward looked up when he heard the tinkle of Enna's laughter. "Come along, Edward." She was already across the stones and holding her front door open. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, s-sorry!" Edward jumped across the stones quickly, and with a nod and gesture from Enna, went inside. He heard the door close behind him and a second after Enna rustled past him. She vanished up a set of stairs and shortly came back with an outfit folded in her hands.

"Here, Edward, change into this," Enna said, handing Edward the clothes and pushing him towards an empty room. Edward changed into the shorts and sleeveless top, conscious of how much his auto-mail was showing. He came out slowly. Enna made no comment on his auto-mail, but said something else.

"This way, Edward. There's someone I want you to meet."

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It was irritating. The person that had taken Edward away was not the person killing women and children, so that problem still needed to be taken care of. But if Roy needed to deal with that problem, then when would he get the time to work out the problem with Edward? Roy sighed and sank lower into his desk and behind the stack of papers on his desk. He could consider himself a failure. His plan had not worked; the killer had not been caught and Edward had gotten taken to the other side of the Gate when he had told Winry that neither of the Elric brothers would get hurt. Well, technically, neither of them _were_ hurt. One of them just got…kidnapped.

But what if…What if there was another world besides the two with the Gate in the middle? After all…what happened to those who were transmuted into the Gate? Where did _they_ go? Roy had doubts that they just went into oblivion. Sure, it was a possibility, but Roy didn't really believe it.

So then, what if there was another world _inside_the Gate?

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"Mother, who do you have with you?" A girl peered around Enna to look at Edward. Her face lit with recognition. "Oh, it's Edward Elric! Hello! My name is Asterea." Her voice was soft and sweet, and there was something about her that reminded Edward of someone else he knew. But who? Who was it . . . ? Who else was it who had that same blonde hair, those same blue eyes, that same smile? He was forgetting. Edward knew that he used to know those things. There was a feeling, something in his mind, that was scolding him for forgetting, because that feeling knew that there was once a time when Edward could remember perfectly clearly exactly what it was he was now looking for.

Edward shook his head to clear his mind. "It's . . . nice to meet you . . . too . . ."

Asterea smiled. "Would you like me to show you around?"

"That's a great idea, darling!" Enna cut in, not giving Edward a chance t reply. "Edward, why don't you go along with Asterea? She'll show you around Sacrificia while I make dinner. After we eat she can show you around the house." Enna gave Edward a light but firm push back towards the front door, where Asterea was already standing.

Asterea grabbed Edward's hand and pulled him out the door and past the stepping stones, talking all the while.

As Edward was pulled along, he couldn't help but wonder, _What is _with_ these people?_

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Edward wearily sat down at the table. Asterea had dragged him all over Sacrificia, and had talked about everything humanly possible. So much so that Edward had begun to fear that the talking would never cease. And he was surprised that he caught not one person looking at his auto-mail. It was almost like it was an every day thing that was seen every day, but no one else had auto-mail, that he could see.

"Edward?" Enna asked. "Edward, are you there?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. I was . . . distracted. You were saying?" Edward said absentmindedly.

Enna and Asterea both laughed. "I was just saying," Enna repeated, "that I'm sure you're tired from Asterea pulling you around everywhere, but that it's still important that you eat properly, so dig in."

Edward looked at all the food set up on the table in front of him. "Thanks . . ." Edward piled some food on his plate, very aware of the watchful eyes f Enna and Asterea upon him, and took a small bite. "This is really good!" Edward exclaimed. He piled more food on his plate and ate more and relaxed when he saw Enna and Asterea put food on their plates as well.

But he couldn't help but notice uneasily that he never saw either of them put a piece of food in their mouths once through all the talking during the meal.

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Sacrificia was an enjoyable place. There were always festivals, parties, entertainment, and excitement. Asterea always hung out with Edward, and Enna treated him like a son. Edward felt himself getting pulled more and more into that would, but it was okay, because Edward liked Sacrificia. He didn't see a problem with staying. Edward was forgetting. He wasn't sure what, except that it was something important, something he shouldn't forget, but despite that feeling Edward couldn't remember, and pretty soon Edward couldn't remember that he was even forgetting anything at all.

The only thing Edward didn't forget was that he never saw them eat, he never saw them drink, and that they always went to sleep after him and were always up before him. The sleeping part might be alright and not so noticeable because some people were like that, but the eating? There was just no way. Edward couldn't survive very long without eating (he couldn't really survive without the sleeping, either, though), and yet Asterea was always jumping about excitedly, her energy bursting everywhere, and Enna never seemed tired. Neither of them seemed tired, actually. At all. Ever.

And there was one more thing. That first day he had gone to Enna's home, she had said that she had a son, a son who was about Edward's size, and whose clothes he was still wearing. Edward never saw or heard of/from that "son."

And then one day, as Edward returned from yet another visit to Sacrificia with Asterea, Enna came rushing out to meet them.

"Edward!" she called, seeming excited about something. "Edward, come quickly now! There's someone here who's intent on meeting you!" She waited almost as what would seem impatiently as Edward scrambled across the rocks towards her. Even before Edward had gotten both feet on the ground she was standing on, Enna had grabbed Edward's hands and started running off, dragging Edward behind her.

Enna slammed two doors open and led Edward into what he had come to know as the living room/family room/parlor/"hang-out" room. He noticed a woman sitting on one of the crouches sophisticatedly.

"I've brought him, Lady Blade!" Enna told the woman with a flourish, presenting Edward.

As Edward stumbled to a halt between Enna and the woman sitting on the couch, he found himself looking into brown eyes. And he thought eyes had to be blue to give you that icy, chilly feeling. He shivered unconsciously as her eyes examined him, up and down, up and down. Enna had called her "Blade." Everything about this woman was sharp: her eyes, her chin, her nose, the way she dressed, her hair and how it looked like mini-knives that sharpened all the way down to points at her shoulders . . . her whole entire demeanor was razor-sharp, and Edward couldn't help but that think that her name was very fitting for her.

"I did not think that he would look so . . . plain" were the first words he heard her say. His expression immediately changed to a scowl. The woman glared at Edward. Edward glared back.

He turned back to Enna. "I don't think I want to meet this woman," he said. "I'm going to go now." He started to make his way around Enna, but she grabbed his arm and hissed, "You do not speak of Lady Blade that way!" and spun him back around to face the woman—Lady Blade—once again.

Lady Blade got up and circled Edward, examining him and muttering some things here and there. "On the skinny side . . . Seems childish and immature . . . Rather small and short for his age . . ."

Edward snapped. "I am not little! I am not short! Don't call me midget! Or small fry!" Edward swung his left hand in a swinging motion in Lady Blade's direction. An icy hand caught his wrist and enveloped him with a freezing aura.

Edward looked down to see Lady Blade's hand gripping his own wrist and glanced back up to see her eyes narrowed at him. He narrowed his own back.

"Do not behave like that, _child_," Lady Blade warned, "and listen to what I have to say. I'm not here for a friendly little _visit_. I have a proposition for you."

Edward wrestled his arm free with irritation. "What? It's probably not worth my while." Edward couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy as Lady Blade's face spread into a wild grin.

"Oh, but it _will_ be worth your time. How would you like your left leg and right arm back?"

Edward's eyes widened. He looked down at his auto-mail arm and then his auto-mail leg, and opened his mouth to reply. "I . . ." He trailed off when he heard a familiar voice.

_"Someday, I swear I'll get you back the way you were."_

Edward knew that voice. It was his own.

_"Mm-hmm,"_ a voice answered Edward._ "And when that day comes, your full body will be there too."_

Al. How could he have forgotten Al?

Edward's mouth was still pen. "I," he repeated again, "I made a promise . . . to my little brother. I made a promise to Al. We made a promise to each other! I'll get my arm and leg back when _he_ gets his _body_ back!" He jumped up and raced towards the doors, ignoring the voice that called after him, "And your brother has his body back, but you don't have yours . . ." He threw the double doors open and charged towards the pair at the front of the house. Slamming them open, he leapt down the stairs and kept running, desperate to get out of that place and back to where he knew he should be. He leapt to jump onto the first rock at the front of the house and plunged right into the water surrounding the house, the rocks suddenly having disappeared.

Edward struggled to rise to the surface, but the water was heavy and seemed to fight with him, refusing to let him up. Edward's strength was running out, and dimly he remembered being lifted out of the water in a cage and a voice saying, "I'm sure you'll come around sooner or later . . . But I highly suggest sooner. The clock is ticking, child. Time's running out."

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There had to be something he could do! Alphonse knew that with much irritation. But what? He wandered aimlessly through the streets of the city after meeting with Roy again, having no specific destination in mind. Roy had told Alphonse his idea of anther world being inside the Gate. Alphonse poured over all his options, hoping to find one that would give at least the smallest hint or clue as to how to get to Edward. Alphonse was positive that Edward was in the Gate rather than on the other side. Edward and Alphonse had gone to the other side before, and Edward had gotten them back. If Edward was on the other side of the Gate, then surely he would have gotten himself back by now. No. Edward was _definitely_ somewhere inside the Gate. But that still didn't really help at all in getting to Edward. Alphonse hadn't had as much contact with the Gate as Edward had. Alphonse had no idea how to go inside the Gate, either. He had only opened it once, and back then he had to use Wrath and Gluttony. He had helped Edward close it, but he had never stayed inside the Gate when passing through, except for that one time when they had tried to bring their mother back to life. Edward had managed to drag Alphonse's soul back from the Gate. But Alphonse couldn't remember being in the Gate that well. He didn't remember that incident much at all, in fact.

Alphonse looked up when e felt the heat of the sun convert into the coolness of shade and found himself in an alley. How had he managed to do that? Alphonse turned around to go back when he heard a familiar voice.

"There you are!"

Alphonse spun back around to face the owner of the voice. "You? What do you want . . . Envy?"

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**Um, yeah. So sorry guys… It lacks a lot of action. I realize that my laziness might mean that you guys might have lost interest in my story… But those who haven't, I appreciate that you guys are still around! (smile) And I apologize about any run-on sentences or grammatical errors and all that messy stuff. It's not particularly my best part of writing, heh.**

**So… Yes, the reason for my lack of updates is the same as last times. I've been working on AMVs. Yep. I've added one more. It's on YouTube. It's for Ed and Winry! And the first minute and fifteen seconds are for Trisha and Hohenheim! **

**If you all are thinking: **_**She didn't update for four months because of one AMV?.!**_**, that's not true! I've been working on another one, and another one after that, and neither of them are working for me, so I'm now on another one.**

**For those of you who haven't caught on, I LIKE FEEDBACK. **

**Have a nice rest of the day, everyone! (smile)**

**Laine**

**Squirrel**


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